When Jeremy Peña was hit by a pitch on March 4, the hope was that it was nothing serious. The next day, we learned that wasn't the case. Peña fractured his finger, leading to panic all around the Houston Astros' world. The injury harkened back to Jose Altuve's fractured thumb during the 2023 World Baseball Classic and was a bitter blow to a fanbase that's still shellshocked from last season's endless wave of injuries.
There is a small silver lining, though. All offseason and throughout training camp, one of the top storylines was how the Astros would manage their treacherous infield logjam.