Houston Astros shortstop Jeremy Pena (ribs) is not doing baseball activities yet, but general manager Dana Brown said he could resume baseball activities this weekend in Los Angeles. The Astros placed Pena on the 10-day injured list on Monday with a small rib fracture on his left side after he was hit by a pitch. It's good news that the 27-year-old could resume baseball activities this weekend, but by no means should fantasy managers be expecting him to return from the IL before the end of the first half of the season. However, it's possible that Pena could be ready to roll for the start of the second half of the season on July 18 if he continues to make good progress after he resumes baseball activities. Pena is having a career year for fantasy managers in 2025 and should remain stashed in all leagues. Until he's back Mauricio Dubon will serve as the team's primary shortstop.

Houston Astros shortstop Jeremy Pena (rib) was placed on the injured list on Monday due to a rib fracture on his left side. This happened when Pena was hit by a pitch during Friday's game against the Chicago Cubs. Pena is reportedly feeling better, but will be shut down from baseball activities for a while. There is currently no timetable for his return, but he'll probably miss more than the minimum 10 days. Fantasy managers should check back for another update once Pena can start swinging the bat again. Mauricio Dubon figures to be the primary shortstop while Pena is out.

The Athletic's Chandler Rome reports that the Houston Astros have placed shortstop Jeremy Pena (ribs) on the 10-day injured list with a fracture in his ribs. Oof. Pena was plunked by a pitch in the ribs a few days ago, and while initial X-rays returned negative for the Dominican Republic native, new findings have him facing an IL stint. It's unfortunate news for the Astros and fantasy managers, as Pena was a stud from the leadoff spot in 2025. It's unclear precisely how severe the injury is, and there's been no word on a timetable for his return. Teammate Mauricio Dubon has gotten the start at shortstop in his stead over the last two contests, and figures to do so primarily while he's out. However, it's worth noting Dubon hasn't been that effective against right-handed pitching thus far (.227).

Houston Astros shortstop Jeremy Pena (ribs) remains out of the starting lineup on Sunday when they conclude a series against the Chicago Cubs. Pena was held out of action on Saturday after exiting Friday's contest early with a rib injury. Fantasy managers should continue to monitor his status leading up to their next game on Tuesday against the Colorado Rockies. Pena's X-rays came back negative and should still be viewed as day-to-day. This afternoon, the Astros will give Mauricio Dubon the starting nod at shortstop and will bat in the eight-hole. Pena has been performing at an elite level through the first half, posting a .322/.378/.489 line with 11 home runs and 15 stolen bases. The Astros are worth a look in DFS facing Chicago right-hander Jameson Taillon, who enters this game holding a 4.47 ERA.

Houston Astros shortstop Jeremy Pena (ribs) is taking a seat for the team's game against the Chicago Cubs on Saturday. Pena left early in the Astros' 7-4 win over the Cubs on Friday after taking a pitch off the left side of his ribs. He's day-to-day for now and will look to continue a career year when he returns. Pena is slashing .322/.378/.489 with 11 homers, 40 RBI, 48 runs scored, and 15 steals in 350 plate appearances. Mauricio Dubon will take Pena's place at short on Saturday and bat ninth against Cubs right-hander Colin Rea.

Houston Astros shortstop Jeremy Pena (ribs) is "pretty sore" but had imaging on his ribs that came back negative for any fractures on Friday after he was hit by a pitch in the 7-4 win over the visiting Chicago Cubs at Daikin Park, according to manager Joe Espada. Pena was hit by a pitch on the left side of his ribs in the second inning and was eventually replaced at shortstop by Mauricio Dubon in the fifth inning. The 27-year-old went 0-for-2 at the plate before being removed from the contest. Pena should be considered day-to-day for now, and fantasy managers will want to check back on Saturday to see if he's feeling good enough to play in Game 2 of the series against Chicago. The Dominican shortstop is having a breakout year at the plate and came into Friday's action with a .324/.379/.492 slash line, an .871 OPS, 11 homers, 40 RBI, 48 runs scored and 15 steals in 315 at-bats.

The Houston Astros and shortstop Jeremy Pena were deep in contract discussions on a deal worth more than $105 million over five years, multiple league sources told KPRC 2 Sports' Ari Alexander. The Astros first approached Pena early in the year, but in the midst of a career year for the 27-year-old in 2025, his price has gone up, and the Astros' most recent offer exceeded $107 million. On Monday, Pena hired Scott Boras as his new agent, which could complicate contract discussions, with the super agent well-known for taking his clients to free agency. However, the Astros have gotten deals done recently with Boras on clients Jose Altuve and Lance McCullers Jr. Pena has been one of the best players in the American League this year, going into Wednesday's action hitting .326/.382/.495 with an .877 OPS, 11 home runs, 40 RBI, 47 runs scored and 15 steals in 307 at-bats.

Houston Astros shortstop Jeremy Pena went 2-for-4 with a run scored and two singles in Thursday's 4-3 win against the Chicago White Sox. The Dominican Republic native has been one of the hottest hitters in baseball in recent weeks, registering multiple hits in 11 of his last 17 outings. He's got three home runs and eight steals over that stretch with 13 runs scored and eight RBI. Pena has been quite the catalyst at the top of Houston's order, slashing a robust .429/.442/.548 in 42 June at-bats. Overall, on the season, he's up to a .324 average with nine home runs, 14 doubles, one triple, 14 steals, 33 RBI, and 38 runs scored. The 27-year-old is on pace to crush all of his personal bests in 2025.

Houston Astros shortstop Jeremy Pena was a rare bright spot for the team in a 16-3 blowout loss to the Tampa Bay Rays on Saturday. Pena drove in all of the Astros' runs on a couple of homers against right-hander Zack Littell during a 2-for-3 afternoon, extending his hitting streak to seven games. This is shaping up to be a career campaign for the 27-year-old Pena, who's hitting a hearty .305/.367/.477 with nine HRs, 30 RBI, and nine steals over 246 plate appearances. Pena has helped his cause with a much-improved 13.8% strikeout rate that sits well below his lifetime rate of 19.6%. Next up, he'll face Rays righty Taj Bradley on Sunday. Pena is 2-for-9 with a homer against Bradley.

Houston Astros shortstop Jeremy Pena had a productive night in his team's 11-1 win over the Athletics on Tuesday. Pena went 2-for-5 with a two-run homer and two runs. The Houston infielder pushed his team's lead to 4-0 with his two-run shot in the second inning, giving him seven homers on the season. Pena is off to an excellent start in 2025, hitting .298 with 27 runs, 27 RBI, and six steals across 205 at-bats while serving as Houston's leadoff hitter. He has been slumping a bit at the plate of late, with a .222 batting average over his past seven contests, so he will hope his big outing on Tuesday gets him going again.

Houston Astros shortstop Jeremy Pena will receive his first day off of the season on Sunday when they conclude a series against the Texas Rangers. Pena has been in the starting nine in each of their first 45 games of the 2025 campaign. Through this stretch, the 27-year-old has been effective at the plate, posting a .301/.356/.451 slash line with eight doubles, six home runs, and six stolen bases. He has tallied 23 RBI and scored 23 runs. Under the hood, he has generated an elite .294 xBA (94th percentile) and struck out at an impressive 14.6% rate (88th percentile). This afternoon, Mauricio Dubon will cover shortstop and bat in the nine-hole. Fantasy managers should expect Pena to return to the starting nine on Monday when they begin a series against the Tampa Bay Rays.

Houston Astros shortstop Jeremy Pena went 2-for-5 from the leadoff spot for the Astros on Wednesday night with a double, a home run, two runs scored, and four RBI. Pena's three-run blast came in the sixth inning with two outs to break the game open, expanding the Astros' lead from 3-1 to 6-1 on their way to a 9-1 victory. Pena is hitting .279 with five homers, five stolen bases, and 19 runs scored. He is on pace for career highs with a .340 wOBA, .358 xwOBA, and a 122 wRC+. The 27-year-old has become a fixture at the top of Houston's lineup card and has hit .349 since moving to the leadoff spot 10 games ago, while also hitting safely in 24 of his last 26 games. He's a nice shortstop option for fantasy baseball if you didn't land one of the superstars at the position at the start of the season.

Houston Astros shortstop Jeremy Pena is batting leadoff again for Monday's series opener against the visiting Detroit Tigers and right-hander Jack Flaherty at Daikin Park. Outfielder Jose Altuve is in the two-hole after he was rested in Sunday's series finale against the Kansas City Royals. It's the first time Altuve hasn't led off since June of 2023. It will be the second straight start out of the leadoff spot for Pena, who is slashing .255/.327/.388 with three home runs, 11 RBI, five stolen bases and 13 runs scored on the year. The Dominican infielder recently snapped a 14-game hitting streak in which he went 17-for-52 (.327) with a homer, six RBI and three stolen bases. Despite the fact that Pena is hitting just .111 in nine career at-bats against Flaherty, he should be in starting single-year fantasy lineups while batting leadoff again on Monday.

Houston Astros shortstop Jeremy Pena hit a three-run home run in the ninth inning of Monday night's 8-3 loss to the Cardinals. He finished the night 1-for-4 with the blast that came off relief pitcher Roddery Munoz, giving him three long balls on the season. Pena is hitting just .207 through 16 games but has increased his ISO with four of his 12 hits going for extra bases. His hard-hit rate and barrel rate are actually up this season as well, but his .200 BABIP has held back his overall production. His xwOBA of .371 stands in stark contrast to his .291 wOBA, so his metrics show he has actually been hitting the ball much better than his batting average reflects. Pena and his fantasy managers will hope that Monday's home run can jumpstart a turnaround in his average as the Astros continue their three-game set in St. Louis.

Houston Astros shortstop Jeremy Pena blasted a home run in the second inning of the Astros' 5-2 victory on Thursday over the Minnesota Twins. The home run was the second of the young season for Pena, as he is showing some power at the plate early on. The Astros were down by one run at the time, so the home run came at a good time. It tied the game up at two a piece and helped gain the momentum needed to run away with it a few innings later. It was Pena's only hit in the afternoon, as he went 1-for-4 and is underproducing thus far with a .130 batting average. Pena is a career .259 hitter, so fantasy managers should expect better days ahead for the Astros' shortstop. Pena will look to keep it rolling as the Astros finish up their series in Minnesota on Saturday and Sunday.

The Houston Chronicle's Matt Kawahara writes that Houston Astros shortstop Jeremy Pena has been working on his plate discipline leading into the 2025 season and lowering his chase rate. In 1,842 regular-season plate appearances in his three years in the big leagues with Houston, Pena has only walked 90 times compared to 375 strikeouts in 443 games. He has still managed to be a productive shortstop for fantasy managers because of the volume, but he hasn't really been able to improve on his rookie season in 2022 in which he hit 22 home runs in 136 games. The 27-year-old Dominican did have a career-high 20 stolen bases last year and also cut down on his strikeout rate. If he's able to work more walks in 2025, he could give fantasy managers more help in the batting-average department. But with minimal power at the 6, Pena is ranked as the No. 19 fantasy shortstop at RotoBaller.

Houston Astros shortstop Jeremy Pena and outfielder Jason Heyward will both start on the bench for Friday's series opener in Cleveland against the Guardians at Progressive Field. Grae Kessinger is starting at the 6 and batting ninth, while Mauricio Dubon is in left field and batting eighth against Guardians rookie left-hander Joey Cantillo. Pena doesn't sit often, as this is his first day off since Aug. 22. Kessinger made his big-league debut last year and played in 26 games, hitting .200 (8-for-40) with a homer and an RBI. He's only played in 20 games in 2024 and has gone hitless in 17 plate appearances with one walk and five strikeouts. DFS gamers should ignore him on Friday. Dubon, a super-utility man for the Astros, has very little DFS sleeper appeal at the bottom of the order with just four home runs and 47 RBI in 394 at-bats in 2024.

Houston Astros shortstop Jeremy Pena will get the day off on Thursday in the series opener against the Baltimore Orioles at Camden Yards. Mauricio Dubon will start at shortstop for the Astros and will hit ninth against Orioles right-hander Corbin Burnes. In five career at-bats against Burnes, Dubon is hitting .200 with a home run and two RBI. He won't be a recommended DFS play on Thursday, though, in the tough matchup while residing at the bottom of the batting order. Pena has earned a much-needed day of rest, as this will be his first day off since June 21 and only his third day off of the season. The 26-year-old shortstop has been solid in the month of August for the first-place 'Stros, hitting .286 (20-for-70) with three home runs, three doubles, three stolen bases and nine RBI in 18 games played. He should be back in there on Friday.

Houston Astros shortstop Jeremy Pena hit his 10th homer and stole his 13th base on Sunday, leading the Astros to a 10-2 win over the Boston Red Sox. Pena finished the day 3-for-5 and added a double, two runs, and two RBI. It was a nice day for the 26-year-old, but he's struggled mightily recently, slashing just .219/.286/.250 with no homers and no steals in August coming into tonight. It was actually his first homer and steal since July 23 when he had one of each as well. Although he provides some power and speed, his overall production doesn't quite make the cut in standard-size leagues. He can be a solid streamer and holds some value in deeper leagues.

Houston Astros shortstop Jeremy Pena had a big game in his team's 8-2 loss to the Oakland A's on Tuesday. Pena went 3-for-4 with a double, a solo homer, and a steal in the losing effort. The 26-year-old infielder has been swinging a hot bat for the Astros of late, batting .385 with two homers over his past seven contests. Overall, Pena is hitting .282 with 17 doubles, nine homers, 49 runs, 44 RBI, and 12 steals across 380 at-bats. His blend of power and speed makes him a solid fantasy shortstop in deeper leagues.