The World Baseball Classic, from the United States to Japan, has fans across the world excited about the most prestigious international tournament in all of baseball.
What has truly become the World Cup of baseball has taken over the globe, and over 40,000 fans packed the Tokyo Dome to watch Australia defeat Czechia in the opening game.
Everyone is happy, well, except for Houston Astros fans, who might not watch the WBC following the news that transpired over the past two days.
All-Star shortstop Jeremy Peña has a fracture in the tip of his right ring finger and will be reevaluated in two weeks, per the Astros.
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Peña was injured on Wednesday in an exhibition game against the Detroit Tigers and ruled out of the WBC, when a baseball took an unorthodox jump on a groundout that hit him in the ring finger.
It’s a mighty loss for the Dominican Republic, which arguably had the best lineup out of any team 1-9 in the competition.
Astros fans don’t care about the D.R.’s chances in the WBC, though, now that there is a doubt that one of their best players might not be ready for Opening Day in a few short weeks.
“If I’m an owner paying multi millions to these players, I would seriously consider not letting them play in any of these events outside of the MLB games,” one fan said about the injury. “Just too much money invested.
The World Baseball Classic sucks, it’s unnecessary, and it creates problems specifically for this team,” another angry supporter wrote to Astros’ beat writer Chandler Rome, who broke the news. “I know you disagree, but that’s my story, and I’m sticking to it.”
“Keep telling us and selling us on how amazing the WBC,” chimed in another Astros fan.
The Astros, with or without Peña, will open their 2026 MLB season at home against the Los Angeles Angels on Friday, March 27.
