The Astros positioned star shortstop Jeremy Peña on the injured record as a result of a fractured rib, leaving them with out their staff’s most useful participant for at the very least a interval of 10 days. A agency timetable for Peña’s return wasn’t supplied by the staff, and primarily based on common supervisor Dana Brown’s feedback concerning the harm, it sounds as if the membership is taking an optimistic strategy however doesn’t have a concrete thought of simply how lengthy he’ll be sidelined.
Through Brian McTaggart of MLB.com, Brown referred to as Peña’s harm a “ache tolerance factor” and left a moderately open-ended window when discussing his shortstop’s potential return date. “If he seems like he’s advantageous after every week, we’ll begin some baseball exercise,” mentioned Brown. “We may give him some issues to do, and he may be capable of play via it because it heals.”
Brown famous that there’s nonetheless a superb little bit of irritation on the web site of the fracture, but when that clears up in a well timed method, it’s doable Peña may return “quickly after the ten days” — supplied he can tolerate the discomfort. After all, there are many components to think about. Swinging with a fractured rib would presumably influence Peña’s productiveness on the plate, and the prospect of him laying out for a grounder at shortstop or taking one other errant pitch off the ribs may exacerbate the matter. There’s additionally no telling when the irritation will relax and he’ll really feel nicely sufficient to swing; Peña was initially plunked on Friday night time and missed the subsequent two video games as a result of ongoing ache earlier than follow-up MRI and CT scans revealed a fracture that preliminary x-rays didn’t detect.
Now that Peña is out for at the very least a brief spell, Leah Vann of Chron.com argues that the Astros must take their first large league take a look at 2023 first-rounder Brice Matthews. With utilityman Mauricio Dubón more likely to slide over to shortstop, an already weak level within the lineup (second base) may develop into that rather more compromised. Matthews has performed 52 of his 67 video games this season at second base and turned in a sturdy .285/.403/.492 batting line (135 wRC+) in 298 Triple-A plate appearances.
Houston doesn’t want to guard Matthews from the Rule 5 Draft earlier than the 2026-27 offseason. Deciding on him to the 40-man roster greater than a yr previous to that time runs the chance of prematurely burning via a few of his possibility years. Nonetheless, given his manufacturing on the high minor league stage, Matthews is making a transparent case for a promotion, and if the Astros are assured he’s going to be within the majors for the lengthy haul anyway, concern over these possibility years could be rendered moot. It’s doable Houston trades for a veteran second baseman, however talks alongside these strains — not only for the Astros however for the entire league — most likely received’t decide up in earnest till later this month.
With each Peña and Yordan Alvarez sidelined, Houston’s lineup is lacking two of its most proficient hitters. They’ll must rely extra closely on the remainder of the bats in the interim, together with touted rookie Cam Smith. Smith has been on absolute fireplace on the plate recently, slashing .367/.433/.617 over his previous 16 video games. As he’s heated up, he’s additionally climbed the batting order. Smith was batting seventh, eighth and ninth for a lot of Could however has been plugged into the fourth or fifth spot within the lineup every sport since June 19.
The Astros are bullish on Smith’s capacity to be a fixture of their long-term lineup, after all, and the style wherein he’s taken to proper discipline from a defensive standpoint solely bolsters that optimism. A former third baseman, Smith is studying proper discipline on the fly, however Brown mentioned on the Astros’ pregame radio present this week that even relationship again to the draft, he believed Smith would profit from a transfer off third base and into the outfield.
“I didn’t really feel like, as a scout evaluating him, that he was going to be this piece at third base,” Brown mentioned (through Chandler Rome of The Athletic). Brown personally scouted Smith on a number of events regardless of realizing he had no actual likelihood to fall all the way in which to the Astros at No. 28. These in-person seems to be paid off when the Kyle Tucker commerce discussions started with the Cubs, nevertheless, and as soon as the Astros pried Smith free, Brown recalled advising his employees: “I don’t really feel we took this man for him to play third base, my imaginative and prescient for him is correct discipline.”
Smith has taken to proper discipline like a duck to water. He’s made simply two errors in 597 innings on the place whereas producing a whopping +9 Defensive Runs Saved and +4 Outs Above Common. Statcast pegs Smith’s vary within the 91st percentile of huge league outfielders and credit him with 82nd-percentile arm power. There’s nonetheless some studying to do in the case of throwing, as Statcast truly grades his throwing as a unfavourable regardless of that plus arm power — doubtless a mirrored image of Smith nonetheless honing his accuracy on these lengthier throws and on growing instincts for hitting the cutoff man, throwing to the right base, and so on. For a transformed infielder, nevertheless, the plus vary, positive fingers and robust arm set the muse for a Gold Glove ceiling.
Unsurprisingly, Rome means that Smith’s long-term house is in proper discipline and that there’s no infield return deliberate. With Isaac Paredes hitting nicely and managed two extra seasons past the present marketing campaign, that appeared like a given anyhow, however Brown’s feedback solely additional reinforce that long-term outlook for Smith.
