Astros hoping Jeremy Peña snapping out of post-return slump before it’s too late

It was honestly tragic when Houston Astros shortstop Jeremy Peña went on the injured list when he did. Not only did his rib injury cost Peña an appearance in his first All-Star Game, but it robbed the Astros of one of their hottest hitters. It was not a coincidence that while Peña was out, Houston struggled to mount a consistent offense, and their lead in the AL West dwindled.

Unfortunately, Peña didn't exactly come right out of the gates and pick up where he left off when the Astros activated him from the IL. In his first nine games back, Peña slashed just .250/.308/.444, which wasn't terrible, but was a far cry from what he had been doing before he got hurt, and that included a three-hit game right after he returned.

However, a light appeared in the darkness on Tuesday night. While the Astros got routed by Boston, Peña went 3-5 out of the leadoff spot. If that performance is a sign of things to come, Peña's timing couldn't be better.

With Astros in a division dogfight, they need Jeremy Peña more than ever

Again, this was just one game, just like Peña's slight slump before that was just nine games. Every player has ups and downs throughout the long baseball season, and we can't realistically draw too many conclusions just yet.

However, it sure would be nice if Peña got rolling right now. After all that work to build a healthy lead in the AL West in the first half, Seattle got nuclear hot, and now the division race is tied. While the Mariners aren't going to keep this pace up the rest of the season (hopefully), it is clear that their offense is starting to catch up to their vaunted rotation and is going to be a problem, especially if Eugenio Suarez gets hot.

If Peña gets back to what he was doing, Houston will have all the tools they need to keep pace, especially as their rotation slowly gets healthy. The Astros don't need a world-beating offense, but they do need to score runs consistently, and that starts with Peña at the top of the lineup. Failing that, Houston could find their playoff hopes in real trouble in a hurry.

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