Pena was scratched from the lineup ahead of Thursday's game with the Royals due to an unspecified reason, Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle reports.

EDGE Analysis

The Astros haven't provided an immediate explanation behind Pena's removal from the lineup, but he's presumably dealing with an injury. Just one week ago, Pena missed a game after suffering a mouth laceration in a collision with teammate Yordan Alvarez, but he cleared the concussion protocol and proceeded to start each of the past six games, going 7-for-29 with three home runs over that stretch. Mauricio Dubon will fill in for Pena at shortstop in Thursday's series finale.