Jose Altuve has the most departure to the second goal of any active MLB player, but this count may have managed to stop while the Astros of Houston plan to play on Altuve mainly in the left field this season, said manager Joe Espada told journalists on Monday.
“Right now, the plan is for him to play the majority of his games in the left field,” said Espada, adding that the displacement of the Altuve “in both directions is something that I will avoid”.
It will take a while to get used to astros fans who watched Altuve Man The Keystone since his 2011 recruit season. He won the Gold Glove in 2015 and, in 2020, led the AL with the least error to the second goal. He also helped Astros win the World Series 2022 on the Philadelphia Phillies and the 2017 World Series on the Los Angeles Dodgers, the year he won the MVP AL.
Altuve’s bat may not be at the level that she was during her MVP campaign – he struck .295 in 2024 – but his field did not take. In 2024, he made only five errors through 146 departures and led all the second basic players with a percentage of commissioning of 0.989.
This is an interesting decision because the astros did not go out and acquire a flagrant replacement with the second goal. The idea of moving Altuve to the left was approached for the first time when the team sought to keep the third goal Alex Bregman. If Bregman had returned to Houston, it could have forced the new acquisition of Isaac Paredes to go to the second goal and to Altuve to the outside field, but with Bregman joining the Red Sox, Pareds will remain in third place.
[Related: 2025 MLB free-agent signing tracker, trades]
Speaking of Bregman to the Fanfest of the team in January, Altuve said: “Whatever I have to do so that I am, I am ready to do it.” Asked about the difficulty of going to the outside field after never having played there before, he said with a smile: “For Alex, nothing will be difficult.”
Even after Bregman signed with Boston, moving Altuve to the outside field was always logical for the team.
Mauricio Dubon and Brendan Rodgers exchanged starting tasks at the second base throughout training in the spring. Dubon is a man of public services who played each position on the diamond in two seasons in Houston, while Rodgers came to Houston des Roches du Colorado in free agency.
All-star nine times and triple stick champion, Altuve played all the beginnings of 2767 departures from the major league at the second base.
Do you want beautiful stories delivered directly to your reception box? Create or connect to your Fox sports account, follow the leagues, teams and players to receive a personalized newsletter daily!
