Astros' woes continue as Tatsuya Imai, Jeremy Peña land on IL amid seven-game losing streak
Houston has been hit hard by injuries in the early going of the 2026 season
A bad week for the Houston Astros has gotten even worse. On Monday, the Astros placed right-hander Tatsuya Imai and shortstop Jeremy Peña on the injured list. Imai has what the team called arm fatigue. Peña has a Grade 1 hamstring strain. The Astros have not yet announced a timetable for either player's return.
The injuries come on the heels of a seven-game losing streak in which Houston has been outscored 58-33.
Imai is the third starting pitcher the Astros have placed on the injured list in the last two weeks. Ace Hunter Brown is sidelined with Grade 2 shoulder strain that will sideline him into the summer. Cristian Javier suffered the same injury in his last start. Now Imai is down for an unknown length of time. Also, Cody Bolton exited Sunday's start in the second inning with back tightness.
Houston's rotation depth chart currently looks like this:
RHP Hunter Brown(out with Grade 2 shoulder strain)RHP Cristian Javier(out with Grade 2 shoulder strain)- RHP Mike Burrows
RHP Tatsuya Imai(out with arm fatigue)- RHP Lance McCullers Jr.
RHP Ronel Blanco(out with Tommy John surgery)RHP Cody Bolton(exited last start with back tightness)- RHP Spencer Arrighetti (1.26 ERA in Triple-A)
- RHP Jason Alexander (3.26 ERA in Triple-A)
RHP Hayden Wesneski(out with Tommy John surgery)
The Astros are pushing the limits of their rotation depth not even three full weeks into the season. Imai, 28 next month, allowed seven runs and 11 walks in 8 ⅔ innings in his first three MLB starts. He walked four of the seven batters he faced in Friday's start, then was sent back to Houston for tests on his arm. The exact nature of his injury is unknown.
As for Peña, he was hampered by a finger injury suffered in the World Baseball Classic earlier this year. Now his hamstring is acting up. Peña exited Saturday's game with what the team originally called knee discomfort. Grade 1 hamstring strains typically come with a 2-3 week recovery time. It's possible Peña will be able to return after the minimum 10 days on the injured list.
Peña, 28, is hitting .256/.304/.349 in the early going this season. He has started only 10 of the team's first 16 at shortstop as the Astros managed his WBC injury. Carlos Correa has filled in at shortstop and figures to do so again, with Isaac Paredes taking over at the hot corner. Peña's injury does untangle Houston's infield logjam for at least a little while.
It's still early (very early), but the Astros have put a dent in their postseason odds with this seven-game skid. They entered 2026 with 32.8% postseason odds and 12.0% division odds, per FanGraphs. Those are down to 26.4% and 9.2%, respectively. The Astros are fortunate that the Seattle Mariners have similarly started slowly.
Houston is 6-10 and in the AL West cellar. They have allowed 6.31 runs per game this season, nearly a half-run worse than the next-worst team (Washington Nationals at 5.87).
