Jose Altuve, Second Base, Houston Astros, #27


Date of Birth: 5/6/1990
Birthplace: Maracay, Venezuela
Nickname: Gigante

Jose Altuve, second baseman for the Houston Astros, was first signed by the Astros in 2006 but he didn't start his professional baseball career until 2008. He played in the minor leagues from 2008 through 2010 and was called up to the Astros in 2011. He played in just 57 games with them that season.

In 2012, Altuve had his first full season in the major leagues. That year, he played in 147 games with the Astros, batting .290 with 167 hits, 34 doubles, and 33 stolen bases. The following year, in July, 2013, the Astros gave Altuve a four-year, $12.5 million contract extension that includes club options for 2018 and 2019. In 2013, he batted .283 with 177 hits, 31 doubles, and 35 stolen bases in 152 games.

Altuve became one of baseball's stars in 2014 by leading the major leagues in hits with 225 and batting average with .341. He had 47 doubles, third in the major leagues and second in the American League, behind Miguel Cabrera. He was also first in the American League in stolen bases with 56. Only Dee Gordon of the Los Angeles Dodgers had more. What makes all of these numbers even more exciting is the fact that Altuve is the shortest MLB player at just 5'5" tall. He seems to be following the leads of two other great, low on height but high on talent, second basemen - Hall of Famer Joe Morgan and Dustin Pedroia of the Boston Red Sox. He won his first Silver Slugger award for his 2014 achievements.

Altuve had another strong season in 2015, finishing with career highs in home runs with 15 and RBIs with 66. He batted .313 with 200 hits, 40 doubles, and 38 stolen bases in 154 games. He won his second Silver Slugger award and his first Gold Glove. As the Astros' second baseman, he made 417 assists, 81 double plays, 247 putouts, and 5 errors in 153 games. He had a .993 fielding percentage.

Altuve had 26 at-bats in 6 postseason games in 2015. He batted just .154 with 4 hits, 2 RBIs, and 1 stolen base.

Altuve had another strong offensive year in 2016, winning his third consecutive Silver Slugger award for batting .338. In 161 games, he had 216 hits, 42 doubles, 30 stolen bases, and career highs in home runs (24) and RBIs (96). Defensively, as the Astros' second baseman in 148 games, he made 361 assists, 73 double plays, 206 putouts, and 7 errors.

Altuve had a superb season in 2017 and he finally got the recognition and MVP award he probably should have gotten in 2014. In 153 games, he led all of major league baseball with a .346 batting average. His 204 hits was the second highest in MLB and his 32 stolen bases was the sixth highest. He also had 39 doubles, 24 home runs, 81 RBIs, and 84 strikeouts to 58 walks. Defensively, as the Astros' second baseman, he made 351 assists, 86 double plays, 201 putouts, and 10 errors in 149 games.

Altuve continued to shine in the postseason, batting .310 with 22 hits, including 7 home runs and 2 doubles, 14 RBIs, and 2 stolen bases in 71 at-bats in 18 games. He hit three home runs in his first postseason game (Game 1 of the American League Division series). He continued hitting well in the AL Championship series, with 3 hits in Game 1, a game winning walk off run in Game 2, and a 2-run single in the 5th inning of Game 6 to give the Astros the lead. He hit a home run three innings later and another home run in the 5th inning of Game 7. In Game 2 of the World Series, he had a 10th inning home run that gave the Astros a 4-3 lead. His last postseason home run tied up Game 5 of the World Series in the 5th inning.

In addition to winning the AL MVP award, Altuve won his fourth Silver Slugger award in 2017. Other awards he won include:

  • Associated Press Male Athlete of the Year
  • Babe Ruth award
  • Baseball America and The Sporting News Major League Player of the Year awards
  • Hank Aaron award
  • Lou Gehrig Memorial award
  • Sports Illustrated Sportsperson of the Year

Altuve signed a five-year, $151 million contract extension with the Astros on March 16, 2018. Astros fans will be able to enjoy watching him play for their team through 2024.

For the first time in his major league career, Altuve spent time on the DL in 2018. That stint on the DL also meant that for the first time since 2014, he didn't have 200 or more hits. However, he still had a good season, finishing with 168 hits, 29 doubles, 13 home runs, 17 stolen bases, 61 RBIs, 79 strikeouts to 55 walks, and a .315 batting average in 137 games. Defensively, as the Astros' second baseman in 130 games, he made 262 assists, 63 doubles plays, 159 putouts, and 7 errors. He played with a bad knee in the postseason but that didn't keep him from batting .265 with 9 hits, including a home run, and 4 RBIs in 34 at-bats in 8 games. He struck out 6 times and walked 3.

Altuve won his fifth Silver Slugger award in 2018.

Altuve spent time on the DL in 2019 with a left hamstring strain. He finished the season with 149 hits, 27 doubles, 31 home runs, 74 RBIs, 82 strikeouts to 41 walks, and a .298 batting average in 124 games. Defensively, as the Astros' second baseman in 121 games, he made 257 assists, 49 double plays, 128 putouts, and 11 errors. In the postseason, he had 25 hits, including 6 doubles and 5 home runs, 9 RBIs, 2 stolen bases, 7 strikeouts to 5 walks, and a .329 batting average in 76 at-bats in 18 games. Those efforts earned him the ALCS MVP award.

Altuve played in 48 games in 2020. He finished the season with 42 hits, 9 doubles, 5 home runs, 18 RBIs, 39 strikeouts to 17 walks, and a .219 batting average. Defensively, he played all 48 games at second base. In the postseason, he batted .375 with 18 hits, 2 doubles, 5 home runs, and 11 RBIs in 48 at-bats in 13 games.

Altuve finished the 2021 season with 167 hits, 32 doubles, 31 home runs, 83 RBIs, 91 strikeouts to 66 walks, and a .278 batting average in 146 games. Defensively, as a second baseman in 144 games, he made 344 assists, 76 double plays, 199 putouts, and 8 errors. In the postseason, he had 14 hits, 3 doubles, 5 home runs, 9 RBIs, and 2 stolen bases in 67 at-bats in 16 games. He struck out 17 times and walked 8 times.

Statistics for Altuve in nine full seasons (2012-2019, 2021) in the major leagues include:

  • 4 seasons of 200 or more hits, with a high of 225 in 2014
  • 7 seasons with 30 or more doubles with 3 of those seasons with 40 or more doubles, with a high of 47 in 2014
  • 6 seasons with 30 or more stolen bases, with a high of 56 in 2014
  • 5 seasons with a batting average over .300, with a high of .346 in 2017

Career batting statistics for Altuve through 2021 include:

  • 1,437 games played
  • 1,777 hits
  • 340 doubles
  • 164 home runs
  • 261 stolen bases
  • 639 RBIs
  • 753 strikeouts to 443 walks
  • .308 batting average

Career fielding statistics for Altuve at second base through 2021 include:

  • 1,396 games played
  • 3,515 assists
  • 791 double plays
  • 2,082 putouts
  • 84 errors
  • .985 fielding percentage

Sources for Information
Wikipedia - Jose Altuve
ESPN - Jose Altuve