Pena to test injured thumb on Tuesday

“I’ll take my first swings on Tuesday and after that, we’ll see. I’m going with the team for New York and we’ll see how the finger feels.”

Pena, 24, hurt his thumb while trying to catch a hit on Monday, June 13 against the Texas Rangers. Although an MRI revealed no serious damage, Pena went on the 10-day disabled list with a sore and swollen thumb.

The team doctor said Pena should not pick up a bat for a full week. Tuesday would be the first day he could theoretically start hitting. He would be eligible to come off the injured list over the weekend.

In his first major league season, Peña has been one of baseball’s best bullpen players and a solid candidate for the American League Rookie of the Year award. The son of Geronimo Pena, a former middle infielder for the St. Louis Cardinals and Cleveland Indians (now Guardians), leads all rookies with 2.9 WAR, Baseball Reference reports.

Peña is batting .277 with nine home runs, eight doubles, six steals, 27 RBIs and 27 runs scored in 54 games. Defensively, he is fourth in runs saved (6 in 455 innings) among all players at his position.

“I feel good, I feel comfortable, happy with the team. We are winning and I am doing my bit,” said the player.

Pena’s performance has been vital for Houston (41-25) to dominate its division by 9.5 games and, very importantly, for fans not to miss star Puerto Rican torpedo Carlos Correa, who left via free agency to the Minnesota Twins.

“Carlos Correa was good to me and helped me quite a bit,” Pena said. “I never thought of it that way [that I would be replacing Correa], I just needed to earn the position,” he added.