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3 years ago

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THIS WINTER, THE Houston Astros were at a fork in the road.

Their longtime shortstop, Carlos Correa, was one of the faces of the franchise, a player who stood up for the clubhouse amid the criticism the team faced from its trash-can-banging, sign-stealing scandal. He was one of the first players the Astros chose during their years of tanking under Jeff Luhnow’s front office, a No. 1 overall pick with high expectations who had lived up to his promise in the major leagues.

But Astros GM James Click knew re-signing Correa would cost the team resources that could instead go toward building depth. When Click came to Houston in 2020, he hoped to create a sustainable winner in the model of the Los Angeles Dodgers and his previous team, the Tampa Bay Rays. Signing Correa to an expensive, long-term contract would chip away at that vision.

More importantly, the team already had a succession plan in mind: Jeremy Peña.

Peña had been in Houston’s system since 2018, when he was drafted in the third round. He was playing in Triple-A by 2021, ranked as the 48th best prospect in baseball by ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel ahead of the 2022 season. On Opening Day, Peña became the first player other than Correa to start at shortstop for the Astros since 2015, but the rookie has picked up where his predecessor left off — as a key cog in a team playing in its fourth World Series in six years.

Peña, who Tuesday became the first rookie shortstop to win a Gold Glove, has sparked the Astros with his offense, too. On the biggest stage, he’s put together an incredible stretch, hitting .333/.357/.648 with four homers in 12 postseason games, including the go-ahead homer in the 18th inning of Game 3 of the ALDS against the Seattle Mariners. He won ALCS MVP honors against the New York Yankees with homers in Games 1 and 4. On Thursday, he became the first rookie shortstop in MLB history with a hit in five straight World Series games — and the first ever to hit a home run in the Fall Classic.

In other words: Correa who?

“[Peña] wasn’t trying to be anybody but himself. He said that from day one,” teammate Alex Bregman said. “He understood how good Carlos has been and what he meant to every single person in here. His only focus was just to be Jeremy and he’s stuck with that the whole year. He’s trying to play his game and leave his legacy.”

And while Peña’s performance catapulted him into the Rookie of the Year conversation, his poise allowed him not just to replace a franchise player, but to come through in October.

“I felt confident in my abilities,” Peña said. “Not just defense, not just hitting. I felt like I could do a little bit of everything. I knew I could hit. I knew I could run. I knew I could throw, could field. It was a matter of getting the opportunity and taking advantage.”

WHEN THE ASTROS envisioned Peña taking over for Correa, they imagined a player who would be ready to play elite defense on Day 1. After all, he’d been perfecting his glovework since his summers growing up in Providence, Rhode Island, where Peña and his older and younger brothers, Austin and Carlos, created a game they called “Big League.”

The rules of “Big League” were simple: Throw the ball hard off a concrete wall and field the quick bounceback cleanly to earn a point. If you grabbed 10 ground balls in a row, you’d get 10 points and a spot on a minor league team. The next 10 grounders might send you up a level, from short-season ball to High-A, and so on. But if you missed one, you’d be demoted. The winner was the first brother to make it all the way to the major leagues.

“We would be playing for hours and we’ve caught like 600 ground balls, not even thinking about it,” Peña said. “We were just having fun. My older brother [Austin] was always the first to get to the big leagues. I would be stuck in Double-A and my little brother would not even be signed.”

When the New England winters came, Peña found another wall — this one in his family’s basement — and threw a yellow batting cage ball against it, to work on his hands. He’d pick up balls barehanded, backhanded — any way he could to improve.

“Baseball, you gotta have your foundation,” Peña said. “You gotta have your fundamentals. When you play games like that, then you have that in your back pocket. You know you can dive and throw the ball from a knee.”

When Peña showed up to baseball tryouts at Providence’s Classical High School as a freshman, head coach Ken Wnuk didn’t hold back. Wnuk always liked to put infielders to the test immediately, hitting grounders hard and seeing how they reacted to bad bounces on the particularly patchy baseball fields of the Northeast. Peña handled them with ease.

“I don’t pussyfoot around with ground balls,” Wnuk said. “But he made all the plays, all the throws and I’m just thinking, ‘This kid is f—ing good.'”

When University of Maine head coach Nick Derba first scouted Peña as a high school sophomore, he saw a fluidity to the shortstop’s hands, with footwork and instincts exceeding his expectations for a 16-year-old player.

“He was a Double-A shortstop as a sophomore in high school,” Derba said. “I watched him take one ground ball and I thought he was the best defender in the country.”

The Peña family’s affinity for baseball, though, didn’t start with three young boys finding creative ways to play the game they loved.

It started with Peña’s father, Geronimo, an infielder for St. Louis and Cleveland who played his last game in the major leagues in 1998, a year after Jeremy Peña was born in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.

When Peña was nine, the family moved to Providence to be near family. There, Peña truly began his love affair with baseball, often heading out with his dad to field hundreds if not thousands of ground balls in a single session. At McCoy Stadium in nearby Pawtucket, the former home of the Boston Red Sox Triple-A affiliate, Peña would watch players like Dustin Pedroia, Jon Lester, Josh Reddick and Daniel Nava make their mark.

“I grew up a big fan, but I also wanted to be in it,” Peña said. “I would go to a game, and while everyone’s rooting for the home runs, I was paying attention to the pre-pitch hop, what players were doing, how they were moving. I was watching what the players were doing on deck, watching the little things.”

His father, a big league role model under the same roof, shared stories from his career, giving his son a sense of the baseball lifestyle and work ethic it would require to follow his childhood heroes to the majors.

“It gives you a sense that it’s possible,” Peña said.

The Atlanta Braves saw something in Peña, selecting him in the 39th round of the 2015 MLB Draft. Peña chose to not sign, and instead headed to the University of Maine, where he’d earn a spot on the America East Conference All-Rookie team. He spent his summers playing in the New England Collegiate Baseball League with the Plymouth Pilgrims, then later with the Chatham Angels in the Cape Cod Baseball League, where he was named an All-Star.

After a breakout season in his junior year, Peña was drafted by the Astros in the third round of the 2018 draft. Derba — who himself was selected in the 30th round of the 2007 draft by the Cardinals, and made it as far as Triple-A — has seen many players get drafted. But Peña’s goal, he said, was about more than getting drafted, and more, too, than even reaching the major leagues.

“He hadn’t gotten to where he wanted to be yet,” said Derba.

WITH THE LARGER plan of replacing Correa in mind, the Astros added Peña to their taxi squad during the 2021 postseason, hoping to expose him to the pressure of the big leagues, even if only from the bench. They wanted him to absorb the veteran influence of Jose Altuve and Bregman. Just a few months later, after seeing him adjust so well to the major league clubhouse, Click felt comfortable moving forward with Peña at shortstop for 2022.

“He just looked the part of a very talented major league shortstop,” Click said. “Letting go of Carlos was obviously a very difficult decision. Not easy by any means, but these are the kind of things we have to do in order to keep this franchise winning, to be able to withstand the inevitable losses.”

The expectation for Peña was that he was going to be a defense-first shortstop. With the strength of the Astros’ lineup, hitting like Correa wasn’t a requirement.

But Peña’s game proved to include some pop, too. The rookie hit .263/.310/.454 with 13 homers in the first half, and ended the season hitting .253/.289/.426 with 22 homers — tied with Correa for sixth among all MLB shortstops. His 4.8 bWAR wasn’t far off from Correa’s 5.4.

“We were extremely confident that he would be able to hold down shortstop from a defensive position and add value that way,” Click said. “The offense — not that it was gravy, but it gave us high confidence of where the floor was for him.”

Peña’s success has been a part of the Astros’ evolution into a perennial juggernaut, a player development factory with established veterans and young rising stars like Yordan Alvarez, Framber Valdez and Cristian Javier. Correa went on to sign with the Minnesota Twins for a $35.1 million annual salary, and, because of Peña, the Astros haven’t missed a step at shortstop.

He’s a crucial part of the Astros’ lineup, and his homers in big October moments have come as no surprise to teammates like designated hitter Trey Mancini.

“The way he carries himself is like a 10-year veteran,” Mancini said. “Just so cool, calm, collected in every situation. The first day I met him, I remember I got traded over [from Baltimore] and I kept forgetting this kid’s a rookie.”

Astros manager Dusty Baker was immediately impressed by the way Peña handled the media attention, unusual for a player who did not come up as a highly touted prospect.

“You could tell by his brightness in his eyes and his alertness on the field that he wasn’t scared and he wasn’t fazed by this,” Baker said. “Boy, he’s been a godsend for us, especially since we lost Carlos.”

Peña certainly wasn’t fazed in Game 5 of the World Series, homering and driving in two runs to help put the Astros one win from a championship.

“What he’s done this year was similar to when I saw a young Andruw Jones as a young player with the Braves against the Yankees [in the 1996 World Series],” Baker said. “Every once in a while these guys come along, not that often, but it just goes to show you, I mean, his future is very, very bright.”

Now, Peña finds himself on the cusp of baseball history.

“You dream about this stuff when you’re a kid,” Peña said of playing October baseball. “Shout out to my teammates. We show up every single day. We stayed true to ourselves all year. We’re a step away from our ultimate goal.”

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Infant son of NASCAR’s Reddick has chest tumor

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2 hours ago

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October 5, 2025

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Infant son of NASCAR's Reddick has chest tumor

  • Associated Press

Oct 5, 2025, 01:19 PM ET

CONCORD, N.C. — Tyler Reddick raced Sunday with his championship hopes on the line at the same time his infant son has been diagnosed with a tumor in his chest that is affecting his heart.

Rookie Reddick, the second of Tyler and Alexa Reddick’s two boys, was born in May, and Alexa said last week that he has been dealing with serious health complications. The couple provided an update ahead of Sunday’s race at The Roval at Charlotte Motor Speedway, where Reddick was starting from the pole, needing a victory to remain in contention for the Cup Series title.

Alexa Reddick posted a social media update on Rookie’s condition after Reddick’s pole-winning run, saying he has a “tumor that’s ‘choking’ the renal vein & renal artery. Telling the heart ‘Hey I’m not getting enough blood … pump harder.'”

She said it has caused an enlarged heart, and the four-month-old will need a kidney removed because doctors determined it is no longer functioning.

“He will undergo open surgery to remove his right kidney. We’re just not sure when,” she wrote. “Waiting is ok right now to give his heart a break while he’s on BP medication. They expect his heart to fully recover because it was just an innocent bystander. We have answers but a journey ahead to bring our little Cookie home.”

She added that her son was happy spending time blowing bubbles, playing and “interacting with every nurse & doctor that comes in his room.”

Reddick had kept his son’s health situation private until his wife went public before last week’s race at Kansas Speedway when she announced that Rookie was at Atrium Health Levine Children’s Hospital in Charlotte showing signs of heart failure.

Reddick finally addressed Rookie’s health at Charlotte.

“Healthier is probably not the right word, but I’ve never seen him happier. His color looks good. He’s gained weight. A lot of things are going well,” Reddick said. “All that being said, some of the the tougher moments are definitely ahead. We’re definitely not in the clear. There are some things we need to get through first.

“So, on one hand, I’m really happy and it makes me feel great that he’s doing much better right now, but certainly we have some hurdles we have to get through first before we’re even thinking about leaving the hospital or thinking about what comes next.”

Reddick, who made it to the championship-deciding finale, enters Sunday’s race below the cutline of drivers who will be trimmed from 12 to eight after the race. The bottom four — Reddick, his 23XI Racing teammate Bubba Wallace, Ross Chastain and Austin Cindric — all likely need a victory Sunday to avoid elimination.

“For me, this weekend where we’re at in points, it just is what it is,” Reddick said. “I’m going to go out there and give it my best effort while I’m here certainly. For me, this week, the elimination, everything that is happening in the racing world is taking a back seat as it should.”

Denny Hamlin, co-owner of Reddick’s car, said 23XI Racing has been supportive and involved in getting Rookie the best care.

“We’ve tried to do everything we could as a company to tap into all the resources that we possibly can, to get him second, third opinions, all the things, get him in contact with specialists,” Hamlin said. “We feel not a relief, but it is a little relief that they kind of understand now what the path is forward, versus, kind of not knowing.

“I could not imagine being in their places. He’s got enough to think about. I’m sure he’s probably breathing a little sigh relief that he still goes there to do his job at a high level, given everything that’s going on off the track.”

Reddick will start alongside Shane van Gisbergen, who has won four races this year on road and street courses. The New Zealander is the heavy favorite, and any driver hoping to avoid playoff elimination will have to beat van Gisbergen.

Reddick, meanwhile, was grateful for the support he and his family have received and reflected on the emotional impact this has had on his family.

“Just countless individuals have helped out,” Reddick said. “Countless individuals have reached out, provided support whatever it might be. It’s been really eye-opening. I agree with my wife this is the hardest thing that I’ve had to go through. … Certainly being away (last week) wasn’t ideal.

“That was a decision me and her came to a conclusion on when I was in Kansas. He was going in the right direction. Yes, like I said, big things ahead that we have to fix, but for that past weekend he was stable and going in the right direction. It was difficult to stay and race [at Kansas], but we were on the same page about it. I just wanted to get off that plane so bad on Sunday night and get back to the hospital.”

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MLB division series Day 1: Takeaways and top moments from four-game Saturday

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6 hours ago

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October 5, 2025

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MLB division series Day 1: Takeaways and top moments from four-game Saturday

Oct 5, 2025, 12:05 AM ET

The 2025 MLB division series started with a bang on a four-game Saturday.

The Milwaukee Brewers rode a six-run first inning to a dominant win over the Chicago Cubs in the first game of the day. A second pair of division rivalries faced off as the Toronto Blue Jays slugged their way to an almost double-digit thumping of the New York Yankees. Then, in a highly anticipated NLDS showdown, Shohei Ohtani started his first career postseason game as the Los Angeles Dodgers took a late lead to secure a win over the Philadelphia Phillies.

In the final matchup of the night, the Detroit Tigers took the lead in the 11th inning to secure a thrilling Game 1 victory against the Seattle Mariners.

We’ve got you covered with all the action from Day 1, from the top moments to postgame takeaways from every matchup.

Key links: Mega-preview | Series outlooks | Bracket | Schedule

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Takeaways | Top Moments

Takeaways

Detroit leads series 1-0

The Tigers nearly collapsed at the end of the end of regular season, barely hung on to a playoff spot and then took two of three in Cleveland. Now, they’ve won Game 1 of the ALDS against Seattle — on the night before their ace, Tarik Skubal, takes the mound. On Saturday, Troy Melton, the rookie right-hander coming off a brutal showing in the wild-card round, provided four quality innings. Kerry Carpenter came up with a big two-run homer against an electric George Kirby. Zach McKinstry provided a two-out, run-scoring single in the 11th inning. And, in the end, Keider Montero retired the top of the Mariners’ order to secure the victory, continuing a dominant effort from basically the entire Detroit bullpen. Keep counting out the Tigers all you want; they keep finding a way. — Alden Gonzalez

Los Angeles leads series 1-0

The Dodgers were reeling. Down 3-0, facing Cristopher Sanchez, at the house of horrors that is Citizens Bank Park, they were at risk of dropping Game 1 against Philadelphia. Then, Enrique Hernández whacked a two-run double that helped chase Sanchez. And Teoscar Hernandez followed with a three-run, opposite-field home run off reliever Matt Strahm. And with Tyler Glasnow, Alex Vesia and Roki Sasaki throwing three scoreless innings, the Dodgers took Game 1 on the strength of their depth more than their stars showing out. Los Angeles showed last October that its depth is as much a hallmark as its stars. As this series continues with the Dodgers having home-field advantage after securing a win on the road, the Phillies know the challenge ahead: There is no such thing as a safe lead against Los Angeles. — Jeff Passan

Toronto leads series 1-0

Add Saturday’s sixth inning to the vault of Aaron Judge‘s October troubles. Toronto’s Kevin Gausman cruised through five scoreless innings, needing just 50 pitches to secure 15 outs, before finding trouble. Anthony Volpe drove a leadoff double, Austin Wells smacked a single, and Trent Grisham walked to load the bases for Judge. The Yankees’ superstar had singled off Gausman in the first inning for his fifth hit (all singles until that point) of this postseason, and Judge has more career home runs off Gausman than any other pitcher in his career. It was a prime opportunity to supply his first major moment in these playoffs. But Judge fell short, striking out on a 3-2 slider down and away that would’ve been ball four. Cody Bellinger followed with a walk to score a run, but that’s all the Yankees scored in the frame — and in the game — after Ben Rice popped out and Giancarlo Stanton struck out.

The Blue Jays, meanwhile, didn’t waste their opportunities. They went 5-for-10 with runners in scoring position as they chased Luis Gil in the third inning and forced the Yankees to use five relievers. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. homered. Alejandro Kirk homered twice. Rogers Centre, hosting its first postseason game since 2016, roared with each of the 10 runs scored. — Jorge Castillo

Milwaukee leads series 1-0

The decision to start Matthew Boyd on three days’ rest backfired on the Cubs so quickly that it’s impossible not to point to that choice as the turning point in Game 1.

Boyd wasn’t sharp down the stretch of the regular season, and after throwing 58 pitches on Tuesday, there were questions around whehter he could return to the mound so quickly and be effective. It was a head-scratching decision considering the team had a more-than-capable starter in Javier Assad ready to pitch after he was left off the wild-card roster. But Assad didn’t make the NLDS roster either — Cubs manager Craig Counsell called that a tough call — making the whole situation confusing. The Cubs blew this game long before Boyd lasted just two-thirds of an inning in Saturday’s opener. — Jesse Rogers

Top moments from Day 1

Tigers at Mariners

Detroit breaks 2-2 tie in the 11th to take the lead and win Game 1

“Julio” chants are loud in Seattle as J-Rod RBI ties the game

One swing flips the game — and Tigers take the lead

J-Rod gives Seattle crowd its first home playoff home run in 24 years

What a special moment at T-Mobile Park

Dodgers at Phillies

Roki Sasaki earns his first MLB save in Dodgers win

Teoscar Hernandez hits three-run blast to give L.A. its first lead

Dodgers get on the board thanks to a double from Enrique Hernandez

J.T. Realmuto triples to give the Phillies an early lead

Cristopher Sanchez strikes out the side to begin Game 1 — starting with Shohei Ohtani

Yankees at Blue Jays

Jays players hyped after Game 1 win

Toronto piles on with four-run inning

Jays get out of zero-out, bases-loaded jam with just one run given up

Alejandro Kirk joins in on the HR fun

Jays bust out new postseason home run jacket

Vladimir Guerrero Jr. gives the Jays an early lead against Yankees

Cubs at Brewers

Milwaukee finishes off a dominant Game 1

Brewers bat around, put up six runs in first inning

Brewers answer in a hurry

Cubs come out swinging in Milwaukee

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With Skubal up next, Tigers notch ‘huge’ G1 win

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15 hours ago

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October 5, 2025

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With Skubal up next, Tigers notch 'huge' G1 win

  • Alden GonzalezOct 5, 2025, 12:30 AM ET

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      ESPN baseball reporter. Covered the L.A. Rams for ESPN from 2016 to 2018 and the L.A. Angels for MLB.com from 2012 to 2016.

SEATTLE — Zach McKinstry came to bat against Seattle Mariners right-hander Carlos Vargas with two outs, the score tied and the winning run on second base in Saturday’s 11th inning. A right-handed hitter, the free-swinging Javier Baez, loomed on deck, a much better matchup for Vargas than the left-handed-hitting McKinstry. The Mariners could have elected to intentionally walk him with first base open.

“We talked about it,” Mariners manager Dan Wilson said. “Obviously, Vargy gets the ball on the ground, and that’s what he does best, righty or lefty and, you know, he got the ball on the ground.”

That grounder bounced four times before finding the outfield grass at T-Mobile Park, hit just hard enough to evade a diving J.P. Crawford, plate Spencer Torkelson and send the Detroit Tigers — marked for dead with their season unraveling in epic fashion near the end of September — to a 3-2, extra-inning victory. After winning two of three in Cleveland to overcome the wild-card round, a Tigers team that has spent the last two weeks on the road has taken a 1-0 lead in the best-of-five American League Division Series.

A.J. Hinch, the fifth-year-manager, called these Tigers the “sum-of-the-parts team,” and it showed once again.

It began with Troy Melton, a rookie right-hander used mostly in relief this season, providing four quality innings. Seven relievers — including Keider Montero, a starting pitcher who was called on for a save — followed by holding the Mariners to one run in seven innings. In between, Kerry Carpenter hit a two-run homer and McKinstry provided the clutch single. Now, with ace Tarik Skubal lined up for Game 2, the Tigers have a chance to take a commanding lead in a series few saw them winning.

“It’s huge,” Carpenter said. “To get a win before the best pitcher in the world pitches is pretty special, and I feel like Skubal is made for these moments.”

The last time Melton took the ball, he recorded one out and was charged with four earned runs in the eighth inning of the second wild-card game on Wednesday. Hinch informed him via text on the plane ride to Seattle on Thursday night that he would start Game 1. He described the decision as a reflection of Melton’s stuff and poise, but really, with Skubal, Casey Mize and Jack Flaherty already used this week, Hinch had few other options.

Melton responded with four innings of one-run ball in what amounted to his fifth major league start all year, allowing only a Julio Rodriguez solo homer.

“It was kind of normal for me,” Melton, 24, said. “My parents were here. I got dinner with them last night, breakfast with them today. It was like the same routine as when I pitched in college. That kind of made it a little bit more normal. Obviously this environment is a little bit different, and it means a little bit more than my college games did, but I tried to make it as normal as possible. Once I got out there, it was just about executing pitches.”

Mariners starter George Kirby didn’t just execute early; he dialed up his fastball, using the adrenaline of a home playoff start to throw his fastball consistently in the upper 90s early on, roughly two ticks faster than his season average. Kirby navigated some trouble but kept the Tigers scoreless through the first four innings while striking out eight.

In the fifth, he allowed a one-out single to Parker Meadows and got Gleyber Torres to ground out, bring up Meadows, the left-handed-hitting outfielder who was 4-for-10 with four home runs lifetime against him. Wilson had lefty Gabe Speier warming up in the bullpen, a move that would have prompted Hinch to pinch-hit with the right-handed-hitting Jahmai Jones. But Wilson decided to let Kirby face Carpenter a third time.

“It’s a tough one,” Wilson said, “and you do the best you can and try to take the information that you have and what you’re seeing. And we thought George continued to throw the ball pretty well there and still had pretty good stuff and a lot left in the tank.”

Kirby just missed inside with an 0-2 sinker. He then went to the sinker for a third straight time, but it traveled middle-up, about chest high, and Carpenter sent it 409 feet to give the Tigers a lead.

“I was seeing him well tonight, especially after that first at-bat,” Carpenter said. “I feel like I got my timing back a little bit. And I just wanted to make sure to get a good pitch to hit that at-bat, because they had a base open, and I didn’t know how they were going to pitch me. And so I felt like I was on time and had a good approach there.”

Rodriguez tied the game with an opposite-field single in the sixth, but the Mariners couldn’t do further damage in a half-inning that saw each of their first three hitters reach. Tyler Holton relieved a struggling Rafael Montero and recorded three quick outs. Tommy Kahnle, Kyle Finnegan and Will Vest followed by allowing one baserunner in four innings, setting up the game-winning sequence in the top of the 11th.

Spencer Torkelson drew a leadoff walk against Vargas, a lanky right-hander who can reach triple-digits. Wenceel Perez and Dillon Dingler struck out, but McKinstry turned on a first-pitch, 99.6-mph sinker near the middle of the zone and came up with a base-hit up the middle, deflating a sold-out crowd that has waited 24 years for the Mariners to win a home playoff game.

In the bottom half, Montero faced the top of the Mariners’ lineup and navigated it without much issue, allowing a two-out single to Rodriguez and then coming back to strike out Josh Naylor to record the first save of his pro career.

It was the realization of a dream.

“When I was in little league, they would use me like that,” Montero, a 25-year-old from Venezuela, said in Spanish, “and I always told my teammates in the minor leagues that my dream was to close out a game.”

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