SEATTLE — At the tail-end of their calamitous 10-game road trip, the Houston Astros placed shortstop Jeremy Peña and right-hander Tatsuya Imai on the injured list on Monday, dealing more blows to a team that is struggling to stay afloat.
Peña and Imai joined ace Hunter Brown, right-hander Cristian Javier and center fielder Jake Meyers on the injured list. All five players were injured during this 10-game road trip, which will conclude on Monday afternoon at T-Mobile Park.
“We’re going through a tough little stretch here,” manager Joe Espada said. “Trying to keep the boys locked in — and they’re locked in. Through seasons, you go through some good stretches and bad stretches and you have to put those behind you. We’ll get through this.”
Peña suffered a Grade 1 hamstring strain, according to the team, while Imai is sidelined with what the club described as right arm fatigue. Espada offered no further update on Imai, whom the skipper said was undergoing more tests on Monday afternoon. Imai has thrown just 8 2/3 innings across his first three major-league starts. He failed to finish three innings in two of them, including a disastrous, one-out start on Friday at T-Mobile Park.
Imai flew back to Houston on Saturday to be evaluated by team doctors. That night, Peña exited the Astros’ 8-7 loss against the Seattle Mariners with what the team described at the time as right posterior knee tightness. After the game, Peña acknowledged feeling some discomfort on Friday night and attempting to play through it.
Peña underwent imaging on Sunday afternoon in Seattle to determine the extent of his injury. On Monday, Peña did not want to provide a potential timeline for his return, opting instead “to see how the body responds” to treatment.
“It sucks,” Peña said. “You want to be out there. You want to play. You want to be able to post up with the team. It’s unfortunate the way it happened, but I’m a believer that everything happens for a reason and we’re going to work to get back.”
Peña, a reigning American League All-Star, fractured his right ring finger in March while playing in an exhibition game before the World Baseball Classic.
Peña did not require a stint on the injured list, but began the season on a gradual playing time buildup. He did not play in consecutive games until April 3-4.
Monitoring Peña’s time on the field was a byproduct of an unorthodox spring training in which he ramped up earlier than most of his teammates in preparation for the WBC, but then got sidelined by the fractured finger.
“I thought my progression was pretty good,” Peña said. “Even when I was dealing with the finger injury, I was still staying on top of my legs, still staying on top of my body. I felt comfortable with starting the season with the team. I felt really good. My body felt great.”
