The Houston Astros' 2026 season is off to a dreadful start; the two-time World Series champions entered Monday with a 6-10 record, which is tied for worst in the majors. Sixteen games is far too small of a sample size to really worry about a record, but far more concerning is the slew of injuries the Astros have been hit with in April.
Three-fifths of the Astros opening day rotation are already on the injured list in Hunter Brown, Cristian Javier, and Tatsuya Imai. And on the offensive side, the Astros announced on Monday that shortstop Jeremy Peña would be joining them with a right hamstring strain. One would assume that this would move Carlos Correa to the shortstop position in Peña's absence, but it seems that manager Joe Espada has decided otherwise.
When the Astros announced their lineup on Monday, the 31-year-old Correa was slated at third base with defensive specialist Nick Allen listed at shortstop.
It's an interesting development for the Astros. While he has battled injuries in recent years, Correa was one of the finest defensive shortstops in baseball throughout his twenties, even earning the prestigious platinum glove award with the Astros in 2021.
Prior to the start of the season, Espada stated that Correa would be the "first option" to play shortstop if Peña was injured (h/t Matt Kawahara, Houston Chronicle). Now, however, Espada seems to be considering a different approach.
Allen, 27, has a worse career OPS than starting pitcher Zack Greinke and ranked last in all of baseball last season in OPS (.535) among players with more than 400 plate appearances. But he's one of the finest fielders in the league; Allen's 17 Outs Above Average (OAA) made him the seventh most valuable fielder in 2025 (h/t Fangraphs).
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Already hamstrung by hamstring injuries, it seems that Espada and the Astros would rather have Correa and Allen on the field at the same time and employ Isaac Paredes at DH for the time being, which is a fine fit for Paredes given his unremarkable defensive abilities.
Given their limited depth at the moment, one alternative option would be to play Correa at shortstop, Paredes at third base, Yainer Diaz at DH, and Christian Vazquez at catcher. But Vazquez is nearly as poor at the plate as Allen, so that option isn't quite as appealing.
Correa will almost certainly see some time at shortstop in the coming weeks. But in the first game he'll play after Peña's injury, he is manning the hot corner.
