Health of Astros Star Jeremy Peña Remains Concern in Pivotal Stretch

Joe Espada said that before Tuesday's game, Peña hit batting practice, but "still felt soreness." The shortstop hurt his oblique in Sunday's game against the Seattle Mariners. This comes after missing time earlier in the year with a fractured rib.

"It might take another day or two to get over that, hopefully not much long," Espada said.

There isn't too much time left in the regular season, though. The Astros were off on Monday, so they began their three-game series agains the Athletics on Tuesday. They have one more series left in the season after that.

Peña stepped up during a season when Houston didn't have their best hitter, Yordan Alvarez. It was a career year for the 28-year-old, hitting .304 with an .840 OPS, 30 doubles 17 homers and 5.bWAR. His batting average, OPS and OPS+ (131) all lead the team.

This is a huge piece missing out of the lineup at the worst possible time. It hasn't been one of the vaunted Houston offenses of the past, and without Peña, they have little depth behind him with Christian Walker now platooning.

"We just decided it was best to give it a day, give it some rest and go from there. I don't feel too bad, but I don't want to give a timeline yet. I feel good, at the moment," Peña said himself.

Oblique injuries can be tricky, especially when playing shortstop. Luckily, it's not on his throwing shoulder.

The lineup without Peña gets short pretty quickly. Rookie Zach Cole has been hitting well in his short time in the big leagues, but Altuve has had a down year, with his lowest full season OPS since 2013, Cam Smith has really taken a step back since the first half and Isaac Paredes just came off the injured list.

Not to mention, Alvarez is hurt once again, meaning they don't have a superstar anywhere in the lineup. The Astros will hope Peña returns for Wednesday game, but that will likely come just before game time once again. He will be much needed as Houston looks to stay in the playoff hunt.