Latest news with #JoeEspada
Al Arabiya
6 hours ago
- Sport
- Al Arabiya
Astros shortstop Jeremy Peña out of lineup a day after getting hit in the ribs by a pitch
Houston shortstop Jeremy Peña was not in the lineup Saturday but was feeling better after leaving the Astros' victory over the Chicago Cubs on Friday night in the fifth inning because of rib soreness, manager Joe Espada said. Peña was hit in the ribs by Cade Horton's pitch during the second inning of the Astros' 7–4 win. He remained in the game for three innings until being removed for a pinch hitter. Imaging done Friday did not reveal a fracture. 'He is getting treatment right now. He's gonna move around, probably hit off the tee,' Espada said. 'I'm going to do everything I can to keep him away from today's game just to give him a full off day, but he's actually feeling pretty good.' Peña played in the Astros' first 82 games of the season. The 2022 ALCS and World Series MVP is enjoying the best year of his career, batting .322 with 11 home runs and 40 RBIs while serving as the leadoff hitter. His .867 OPS is 166 points higher than the number he posted last season.
Yahoo
6 hours ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Astros shortstop Jeremy Peña out of lineup a day after getting hit in the ribs by a pitch
Houston Astros' Jeremy Peña celebrates with teammates after hitting a home run during the fifth inning of a baseball game against the Los Angeles Angels, Sunday, June 22, 2025, in Anaheim, Calif. (AP Photo/William Liang) HOUSTON (AP) — Houston shortstop Jeremy Peña was not in the lineup Saturday but was feeling better after leaving the Astros' victory over the Chicago Cubs on Friday night in the fifth inning because of rib soreness, manager Joe Espada said. Peña was hit in the ribs by Cade Horton's pitch during the second inning of the Astros' 7-4 win. He remained in the game for three innings until being removed for a pinch hitter. Imaging done Friday did not reveal a fracture. Advertisement 'He is getting treatment right now. He's gonna move around, probably hit off the tee,' Espada said. 'I'm going to do everything I can to keep him away from today's game, just to give him a full off day, but he's actually feeling pretty good.' Peña played in the Astros' first 82 games of the season. The 2022 ALCS and World Series MVP is enjoying the best year of his career, batting .322 with 11 home runs and 40 RBIs while serving as the leadoff hitter. His .867 OPS is 166 points higher than the number he posted last season. ___ AP MLB:
Associated Press
6 hours ago
- Sport
- Associated Press
Astros shortstop Jeremy Peña out of lineup a day after getting hit in the ribs by a pitch
HOUSTON (AP) — Houston shortstop Jeremy Peña was not in the lineup Saturday but was feeling better after leaving the Astros' victory over the Chicago Cubs on Friday night in the fifth inning because of rib soreness, manager Joe Espada said. Peña was hit in the ribs by Cade Horton's pitch during the second inning of the Astros' 7-4 win. He remained in the game for three innings until being removed for a pinch hitter. Imaging done Friday did not reveal a fracture. 'He is getting treatment right now. He's gonna move around, probably hit off the tee,' Espada said. 'I'm going to do everything I can to keep him away from today's game, just to give him a full off day, but he's actually feeling pretty good.' Peña played in the Astros' first 82 games of the season. The 2022 ALCS and World Series MVP is enjoying the best year of his career, batting .322 with 11 home runs and 40 RBIs while serving as the leadoff hitter. His .867 OPS is 166 points higher than the number he posted last season. ___ AP MLB:
New York Times
a day ago
- Sport
- New York Times
Kyle Tucker and Ryan Pressly return to Houston: ‘Everyone's going to be watching this series'
HOUSTON — Managers maintain they never think ahead, but Thursday afternoon at Daikin Park allowed Joe Espada the rare chance to break character. During the first inning, Philadelphia Phillies outfielder Nick Castellanos lifted a sinking line drive into right field, conjuring Espada's memories of a far more consequential fly ball hit to that same spot. Advertisement On Nov. 5, 2022, with a ballpark nearing bedlam and a ballclub closing in on a championship, Castellanos chased a first-pitch slider from Ryan Pressly. The baseball traveled 219 feet toward the right field line. Kyle Tucker loped into foul territory, caught it and completed the second World Series championship in Houston Astros history. Tucker still has the baseball stowed away somewhere in his home for safekeeping. Asked on Friday whether he's ever tried to wrestle it away, Pressly deadpanned, 'I'm just glad he caught it.' 'Hopefully,' Pressly added from the third-base dugout, 'we can re-create that in Chicago.' Pressly and Tucker teamed for the most meaningful out in the history of Houston's downtown ballpark. On Friday afternoon, they entered it as visitors and two vestiges of a transformative Astros winter like few before it. Trading both players to the Chicago Cubs strayed from most of Houston's standard operating procedure during its golden era. Paring payroll and procuring prospects took precedence, prompting wonder whether that run could be waning. Finishing the first half 48-33 has offered an authoritative answer. 'They've done that for how many years now? Ten? Every time they lose somebody they always seem to replace (them) with somebody that's really good and pick up the baton right behind them and keep winning,' Pressly said. 'It's what they've been doing for the past decade now.' Tucker and Pressly helped to prolong this successful era, a fact the Astros hoped to accentuate during a pregame feting on Friday night. It forced two players into the sort of spotlight they've never been comfortable embracing. Both Tucker and Pressly are pleasant people, but prefer for their play to speak for itself. Returning to Houston made it impossible. Four cameras followed Tucker during his walk in from a loading dock located, fittingly, in the right field corner. A swarm of at least 15 reporters greeted both him and Pressly inside the third-base dugout prior to batting practice. Specks of gold were sprinkled throughout the right field stands, where a sizable group of fans wore crowns in honor of 'King Tuck.' One young girl outside the third-base dugout held a sign proclaiming 'Tucker, you're still my bestie!' Tucker acknowledged it before mingling with many of his former coaches before Chicago's batting practice. Advertisement The Astros played Tucker's longtime walk-up song — Rich Homie Quan's 'Walk Through' — before his first at-bat. Tucker stepped out of the batter's box to tip his helmet toward both a roaring crowd and the applauding Astros' dugout. 'There's a lot of really good memories here and we had a lot of success playing in this city and on this field, so it's cool,' Tucker said. 'The biggest thing is being around the guys in those moments.' Tucker and Pressly will be forever intertwined, but parallels between their two trades are almost nonexistent. The Astros traded Pressly as a pure salary dump, influenced in part by his deteriorating relationship with general manager Dana Brown. Houston offloaded $8.5 million of Pressly's $14 million salary as it attempted to lower its luxury tax payroll. It also entered Friday with the lowest bullpen ERA in the American League in Pressly's absence, though the veteran reliever has had a fine season with Chicago. Trading Tucker is a far more seismic decision, one that could define Brown's tenure as the club's head of baseball operations. Owner Jim Crane is loath to give the type of contract Tucker will command in free agency next winter, but that philosophy didn't precipitate trades of other homegrown stars like Alex Bregman, Carlos Correa or George Springer. The Astros' depleted farm system almost forced Brown to trade Tucker. So did the understanding that retaining Bregman in free agency would be difficult given Crane's aforementioned contract philosophy. That Houston had coveted third baseman Isaac Paredes since last season's trade deadline only made the decision easier. Acquiring both Paredes and Cam Smith from the Cubs was supposed to solve Houston's third base situation in both the short and long term. Smith switched to right field amid an eye-opening stint in major-league spring training, made the team after just 32 professional games and is now one of the sport's best defensive outfielders. 'It's no secret that everyone's going to be watching this series,' said a smiling Smith, who whacked his sixth major-league home run in the fourth inning of Friday's game. Smith's swift ascent has exceeded the already enormous expectations Houston had for him. Paredes is the team's home run leader and trails only Jeremy Peña for the club's OPS lead. Starter Hayden Wesneski, the third member of Houston's haul from Chicago, underwent Tommy John surgery last month, but has four more seasons of club control. Advertisement Tucker, meanwhile, has given the Cubs everything they desired. He entered Friday with a .922 OPS and on pace for a 30/30 season. During the first inning on Friday, Tucker uncorked a wonderful throw to nab Paredes trying to score from second base on a single. 'I think both teams really got value (and) pretty good return for that trade,' Espada said. Grading a trade after three months is foolish. Smith's development across his next five years will weigh heavily in the final verdict. Whether the Cubs can retain Tucker after this season will factor in, too. Even if they can't, complaints in Chicago will be nonexistent if Tucker carries the Cubs to their fourth World Series championship. 'It's been a pretty easy and smooth transition,' Tucker said. 'They've welcomed me and my family with open arms. It's been a lot of fun to play in front of that crowd and that fan base and just the city itself with the whole history behind the city and the team. It's been really fun to be a part of. I'm excited to get back after this series and continue it.' Before he could, his former team sought sentimentality. At 6:52 p.m., the Astros played a three-minute tribute video for both Tucker and Pressly, bookended by highlights of the Castellanos fly ball that will forever live in Houston lore. 'A lot of memories have been made out on that field,' Pressly said. 'A lot of lifetime friendships made on the other side. I always root for these guys. They're great teammates. I was super fortunate and blessed to share a clubhouse with a couple of those guys who are pretty much legends over there in this city. I couldn't have been more thankful to share my time with them.'
New York Times
2 days ago
- Sport
- New York Times
Injury-plagued Astros are surging into second half of 2025 — but how?
HOUSTON — How are they doing this? The question has hounded the Houston Astros across an 81-game stretch defined by attrition, yet still defying expectations. Answers vary from obvious to obscure, some citing culture or clutch performances, while others cling to cliches that this club is turning into truths. Advertisement Inevitability is part of the Astros' aura, but it isn't sufficient for what has transpired across the season's first three months. Houston can't find a cleanup hitter or diagnose a hand fracture for the one it already employs. Injuries have pared down the starting rotation to an almost unrecognizable state. None of their position players will start next month's All-Star Game, either. It is a gross oversight for the game's most productive shortstop, but an outcome befitting of this entire ballclub. Flexing the leather, JP!#BuiltForThis x @MLBPS_US — Houston Astros (@astros) June 26, 2025 Houston has spent eight seasons being hunted, hailed as favorites from the first February morning of spring training. Trading a five-tool player and failing to pay a franchise cornerstone changes the calculus. FanGraphs gave the Texas Rangers and Seattle Mariners higher odds of winning the American League West before the season began. One morning this spring, manager Joe Espada stood before the players that remained — castoffs in one corner, core players in another and prospects populating the lockers in between. It would take all of them, Espada said, to accomplish any of the team's stated goals. Twenty-nine other managers make the same speech every February. Few of them forecast it will define their season. Yet here sits Espada, managing an injury-ravaged roster while relying on those very replacements that motivation needed to reach. 'It's contagious what happens when you walk in that clubhouse,' Espada said after Thursday's 2-1 win against the Philadelphia Phillies. Only six teams in franchise history have authored better first halves than what this skeleton crew completed on Thursday afternoon. Five of them finished as division champions. Houston is 81 games from becoming the sixth, playing at a 96-win pace while running out lineups most in the organization never thought would manifest. Advertisement 'You have a bunch of guys that believe in one another,' said Hunter Brown, who bullied the Phillies across seven scoreless innings on Thursday. 'The way everyone goes about their preparation, when you start to see results through that preparation, you know you can build some confidence in that. I think that's what you're seeing.' Mystique may explain some of Houston's first-half charm, but in reality, much of the credit belongs to a pitching staff that has created a run prevention monster. Only the Rangers are allowing fewer runs per game than the Astros, but no pitching staff in the sport is striking out more hitters than Houston's. None is generating a higher whiff rate, either. Pair it with a defense that entered Thursday worth 19 outs above average, and Houston's path to victory is clear. Ask the Phillies, who scored once in 27 innings this week at Daikin Park. Brown boasts baseball's lowest earned-run average and must be the front-runner for the American League Cy Young Award. Rotation-mate Framber Valdez has a 2.88 ERA during his platform year. Closer Josh Hader has converted all 21 of his save chances, while setup man Bryan Abreu sports a 1.72 ERA. Those four men hold the key to Houston's season. Two of their five counterparts from the season-opening rotation have already undergone Tommy John surgery. Hayden Wesneski and Ronel Blanco threw just 80 1/3 innings before blowing out. Since Blanco's last appearance on May 17, Astros starters have a 3.16 ERA. Only three rotations entered Thursday with a lower one across that same span. Among the men who've started in that span: Colton Gordon, Ryan Gusto, Brandon Walter and Jason Alexander. Alexander and Walter were waiver claims. Gusto got passed over in the Rule 5 draft. 'We don't have many rules,' utilityman Mauricio Dubón said. 'If you perform, if you're ready to go at 7 p.m., OK, good. Get between the lines. We try to make everybody feel comfortable, and I think that's the biggest thing.' Advertisement On Wednesday, Espada wrote his 76th different batting order during the season's 80th game. He has deployed 67 players — 43 position players and 24 pitchers — while Houston's injured list resembles a roster that could compete with the Colorado Rockies. Yordan Alvarez has not taken an at-bat since May 2. Houston has won 32 of the 50 games he's missed. Journeyman Cooper Hummel, cut by Houston in spring training and jettisoned by two other clubs already this season, homered Tuesday to win a one-run game. Rookie Cam Smith lifted a two-out single on Thursday to win another. 'We're going to fight you for 27 outs, I'll tell you that,' Espada said, 'This team is going to fight you for 27 outs.' Neither pluck nor grit is quantifiable, but how else can Espada explain his club's 157 two-out runs? Only four teams entered Thursday with more. Houston has already won 17 of the 24 one-run games it has played this season. It won 18 one-run games last year. 'We play until the last out, the very last pitch,' Smith said. 'I love that about this club. That's winning baseball, and that's what we crave: to show up every day and compete the way we do.' CAM SMITH COMES THROUGH! #BuiltForThis — Houston Astros (@astros) June 26, 2025 Smith, the precocious rookie put on the Opening Day roster with just 32 games of professional experience, has hit fifth in each of the past three games. He hit cleanup on Sunday — the seventh different player Espada has slotted there this season — but ceded the spot to Jake Meyers on Thursday. No qualified hitter in baseball has improved his batting average more from 2024 than Meyers, one of the unforeseen surprises buoying an offense in need of any spark imaginable. Fifteen teams have a higher slugging percentage. Twenty are scoring more runs. Advertisement Christian Walker, Yainer Diaz and Jose Altuve all hit within the top five of Houston's Opening Day lineup. Walker and Diaz hit sixth and seventh on Thursday. Altuve finished the game 1-for-4, dipping his OPS to .738. According to Baseball-Reference, Walker, Diaz and Altuve accrued 9.3 WAR last season. They finished the first half worth minus-0.2, according to Baseball-Reference. Again, it begs the question: How are they doing this? (Photo of Jeremy Peña: Tim Warner / Getty Images)
