How latest comments from Astros manager outline vision for Altuve's role this season
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Meet your new left fielder! Composite Getty Image.
The Houston Astros are planning to play Jose Altuve mostly in left field this season, manager Joe Espada told the Houston Chronicle on Monday.
A nine-time All-Star, three-time batting champion and the 2017 AL MVP, Altuve has played all but two of his 1,767 major league games at second base. He won the Gold Glove in 2015 and in 2020 led the AL with the fewest errors there, with four.
“Right now the plan is for him to play the majority of his games in left field,” Espada said, adding that moving Altuve “back and forth is something that I am going to avoid.”
The idea of moving Altuve to left was first broached when the team was looking to keep third baseman Alex Bregman. If Bregman had returned to Houston, it might have forced newly acquired Isaac Paredes to shift to second base and Altuve to the outfield.
Altuve said at the team's FanFest in January, “Whatever I have to do for him to stay, I’m willing to do it.” Asked about how difficult it would be to switch to the outfield after never playing there before, he said with a smile, “For Alex, nothing will be difficult.”
Even after Bregman signed with Boston, moving Altuve to the outfield still made sense to the team.
Rockets’ late push falls short as struggles continue in third straight loss
Mar 4, 2025, 11:06 pm
Tyrese Haliburton scored 28 points and matched a season high with 15 assists, and the Indiana Pacers recovered after blowing a 17-point third-quarter lead to beat the Houston Rockets 115-102 on Tuesday night.
Pascal Siakam scored 18 points and Myles Turner added 16 for the Pacers, who have won six of eight.
Alperen Sengun scored 25 points and Tari Eason had 16 points and 14 rebounds for the Rockets, who dropped their third in a row.
Indiana led 90-73 with three minutes left in the third quarter but immediately allowed a 15-0 run by Houston. The Rockets pushed ahead 96-95 on a layup by Amen Thompson with 8:45 left in the fourth, but Aaron Nesmith responded with a three-point play that kicked off an 18-3 run by the Pacers.
Takeaways
Rockets: They were 32-14 on Jan. 28 but have lost 11 of their past 16 games.
Pacers: Six of their next seven games are on the road. The stretch includes home and away meetings with Milwaukee, which beat Atlanta Tuesday night to remain in fourth place in the Eastern Conference, with the same record as fifth-place Indiana (35-25).
Key moment
Ben Sheppard made a 3-pointer — his first basket of the game — early in the fourth quarter to stop Houston's 15-0 run and give Indiana a five-point advantage.
Key stat
Haliburton reached double digits in assists for the sixth straight game, his longest such streak this season. He entered averaging 8.8 assists per game after leading the league in that category last season at 10.9.
Up next
Rockets: At New Orleans on Thursday night.
Pacers: At Atlanta on Thursday night.
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