Houston Astros All-Star shortstop Jeremy Peña was diagnosed with a fracture in the tip of his right ring finger and will be reevaluated in two weeks, the team announced Thursday.
Peña will miss the World Baseball Classic after the fracture was discovered during an exam by a hand specialist Thursday. His availability for the Astros' Opening Day matchup against the Angels might also be in jeopardy.
Before Peña's exam, Astros manager Joe Espada told reporters at the team's spring training complex that Peña suffered damage to the nail area on the finger after fielding a hard ground ball for the Dominican Republic national team during an exhibition game Wednesday. Peña was pulled shortly after that.
Peña, who was born in the Dominican Republic but grew up in Rhode Island, was set to make his first appearance in the international tournament.
The Dominican Republic plays its first game of the WBC on Friday in Miami against Nicaragua, and the tournament's championship game is March 17.
"He's going to be out for two weeks. So, we'll have to make a replacement," Dominican Republic general manager Nelson Cruz said in Miami at the team's WBC workout Thursday.
Cruz didn't announce the replacement, other than saying that the team hopes to have that person in place in time for Friday's WBC game.
"We have a great team. Jeremy was part of this team," Dominican Republic manager Albert Pujols said. "We have been preparing ourselves. Unfortunately, he won't be able to be with us. ... We are going to make the best possible decision."
Peña, 28, is coming off a career-best season in 2025, when he made his first All-Star team and batted .304 with an .840 OPS and 20 stolen bases.
Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.
