No. 4 prospect Peña heads to Sugar Land

ARLINGTON — The Astros announced Saturday that No. 4 prospect shortstop Jeremy Peña, who underwent wrist surgery April 21, was assigned to Triple-A Sugar Land.

Peña was expected to begin the season at Class AAA before he injured his left wrist while making a defensive play in a game at the Astros’ alternate training site in April. He missed the first few months of the season after surgery but has since completed a rehab assignment in the Florida Complex League and now has the opportunity to get a month of minor league games under his belt playing for Sugar Land.

Peña went 0-for-4 with a walk and two strikeouts in his Skeeters debut, which they won 4-3 over the El Paso Chihuahas on Saturday night in El Paso. Colton Shaver hit a gametying homer in the fifth before C.J. Hinojosa delivered the go-ahead run on an RBI single. Brett Conine struck out three over four innings of one-run ball with four hits to get the win for the Skeeters (57-42), while Adrian Martinez allowed four runs (three earned) on five hits with three walks and three strikeouts in the loss for the Chihuahuas (40-58).

Although his career OPS in the minors is .787, Peña has never appeared above Class A Advanced. A thirdround pick by the Astros in 2018, he was named Rookie of the Year in the Dominican Winter League this season after slashing .306/ .349/.430 for Estrellas de Oriente. In seven rehab games for the Astros’ FCL team this month, he slashed .348/.444/.478 with one double, one triple, two RBI and six strikeouts across 27 plate appearances.

“He’s a tremendous talent, and that was a tough blow on us when he went down because it impeded his progress,” Astros manager Dusty Baker said. “He had played for a friend of mine, Jose Alguacil, in the Dominican, where he had a lot of success. But he was making rapid progress so I’m just glad he’s OK and able to play again.”

Peña is considered the Astros’ heir apparent to shortstop Carlos Correa, who will be a free agent after the 2021 season. His return boosts the Astros’ shortstop depth in the upper minor leagues. Astros No. 2 overall prospect Pedro Leon, an outfielder who the organization is converting to shortstop, hit the injured list with a fractured finger on July 27, just seven days after his promotion to Class AAA. He was expected to miss six weeks. Baker said he had no update on Leon’s condition Saturday.

Urquidy to make 2nd rehab start

Astros pitcher José Urquidy, on the injured list since June 30 with right shoulder discomfort, is scheduled to make a second rehab start for Class AAA Sugar Land on Sunday night.

Urquidy pitched three innings in a rehab start for the Astros’ Florida Complex League team on Aug. 19. He made his first Class AAA rehab start Tuesday in Sugar Land, working four innings of one-run ball on two hits with six strikeouts. He threw 49 pitches (35 strikes) in the outing.

If all goes well Sunday, Urquidy could rejoin the Astros next week during the rest of their road trip to Seattle and San Diego. On Sept. 1, MLB rosters expand from 26 to 28 players. The Astros could go to a sixman rotation when Urquidy comes back or move a starter, likely Jake Odorizzi, to the bullpen.

In other Astros injury news, outfielder Chas McCormick, on the 10-day IL since Tuesday with left hand soreness, said he might be sent to play one or two Class AAA rehab games at the beginning of next week.

If that happens, he would aim to rejoin the Astros and play in a threegame series in San Diego.