BEST OF THE BEST
Next time you hear some Altuve slander, here’s the perfect response
Aug 17, 2021, 2:03 pm
Jose Altuve's numbers speak for themselves.Photo by Jason Miller/Getty Images.
Yeah, yeah, Jose Altuve's .274 batting average this year is 30 points below his career mark. His strikeouts are up and his stolen bases are down. And sometimes he bounces the ball on throws to first base. Perhaps the critics are right, Altuve may never get back to his MVP numbers.
But let's step back and appreciate the wonder of Jose Altuve who, mind you, is only 31 years old. He's still producing big time. He's the Astros leadoff home run leader. They're in first place in the American League West and headed toward another post-season run with Altuve gunning the engine.
Stop nitpicking Altuve. After 10 years in the big leagues, all of them in Houston, there can be no doubt, he is greatest Houston Astro of all time.
The numbers are overwhelming and speak for themselves: .308 lifetime batting average, American League MVP, seven All-Star Games, one Hank Aaron Award, five Silver Slugger Awards, three batting titles, two stolen base titles, AP Male Athlete of the Year, Sports Illustrated Sportsperson of the Year. They add up to first ballot Hall of Fame when his time comes, which doesn't appear anytime soon.
When it really counts, in the post-season, Altuve has a .306 batting average and a Ruthian 18 homers, including some Hollywood drama shots, in only 63 games. If you define greatness by championships, Altuve was the team driver and league MVP in 2017 when the Astros brought home their one and only World Series title.
Not to compare Altuve to the Astros two Hall of Famers, Jeff Bagwell and Craig Biggio, but really there is no comparison. Altuve has a higher career batting average (Bagwell .297, Biggio .281). Altuve has more All-Star appearances than Bagwell (4) and more stolen base titles than Biggio (1).
When it comes to the post-season, Altuve steps it up, while Bagwell and Biggio underperformed. Bagwell hit .226 with two homers in 33 post-season games, while Biggio hit .234 with two homers in 40 games.
Maybe most important of all, Altuve looks, walks and talks like Houston – a hardworking embodiment of our town's diversity, the shortest player in Major League Baseball who overcame tall obstacles to achieve greatness. He is the undisputed team leader, admired and beloved in the clubhouse. He's a girl dad, soft-spoken, shy, so easy to root for, and he delivers in the clutch so many times his game-winning homers could fill a Greatest Hits album. Nobody has ever accused Altuve of being aloof or selfish.
Team player? In the aftermath of the 2017 (and beyond) cheating scandal, the Astros deservingly, at least understandably, have become baseball's villains. As a weird testament to his greatness, Altuve became the poster boy for the Astros sign-stealing crime ring. Chants of "F-Altuve" fill road stadiums when he comes to bat.
But from everything we hear, Altuve didn't do it! He reportedly did not want to know what pitch was coming and told the trash can banger to knock it off when he came to bat. Asked if that's true, you didn't participate in the cheating, all Altuve will say is, we're a team, I'm part of the team. He's taking the "F-Altuve" bullet for the Astros.
Think how lucky we are. Today's Astros fans have the privilege of watching the greatest player in their team's history. How many other teams have their GOAT on the current roster? I can think of only one, the Angels with Mike Trout, that is if Trout ever gets back in the lineup. He seems to be on the Spirit Airlines departure schedule – "DELAYED, see agent Alex Bregman."
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How Astros advanced metrics tell puzzling story about Houston's start
Apr 17, 2025, 5:21 pm
Major League Baseball’s regular season is 162 games long. You can think of 18 games as the first inning of the season, 18 times nine equaling 162. While the Astros 8-10 record is not good, it’s far from disastrous. Think of it as them being behind 1-0 after the first inning. It is pretty remarkable that they have yet to win consecutive games. Even during last year’s 7-19 stink bomb of a start the Astros twice managed to win two in a row.
The Astros’ offensive woes are plentiful. Oddly enough as impotent as they’ve been, the Astros have yet to be shutout. But in half their games they have scored exactly one or two runs. Basically, most of them stink thus far. Exemptions go to Jose Altuve and Isaac Paredes, but it’s not like either of them has been outstanding. It’s still early enough that one big series can dramatically alter the numbers, but the Astros badly need Yordan Alvarez to pick up his production. Yordan enters the weekend batting just .224 with a .695 OPS and just four extra base hits. Yainer rhymes with minor. As in minor leagues, where Diaz belongs at his current level of performance. That is not saying Diaz should be sent down, just that any random AAA catcher called up couldn’t have done much worse to this point. Diaz isn’t hitting Altuve’s weight, a woeful .130 with seven hits in 57 at bats. Diaz simply remains too undisciplined at the plate swinging at too many balls. He’s drawn three walks. And now to Christian Walker, who thus far has delivered return on investment for his three year 60 million dollar contract about as strong as the stock market’s performance in Tariff Time. Walker’s .154 batting average and .482 OPS are very Astro Jose Abreu-like. Walker’s23 strikeouts in 65 at bats jump off the page. He has often looked befuddled in the batter's box. Walker is definitely pressing and frustrated, wanting to perform better for his new team. Jeremy Pena goes into the weekend batting .215 and has one hit in 13 at bats with runners in scoring position. Brendan Rodgers, Jake Meyers, and Chas McCormick all have weak stat lines, with little reason to expect quality offensive output from any of them. Cam Smith is at .200 with a yucky .591 OPS but he’s obviously a young stud work in progress thrown into the deep end of the pool.
All batting orders are top-heavy, the Astros’ on paper more so than many. As I set forth on one of our Stone Cold ‘Stros podcasts this week, the first inning should be a team’s best offensive inning. It’s the only frame in which a team gets to dictate who comes up from the start with the batters lined up just as the manager slots them. Add to that, the first inning is a good time to get to a starting pitcher before he settles in. The Astros have scored a pitiful three first inning runs in 18 games, and in two of the games they pushed one across in the first, it turned out to be the only Astro run of the game. Improvement needs to come internally from the big league roster. It’s not as if the Astros have a meaningful prospect at AAA Sugar Land who looks ready to help. Entering play Thursday the Space Cowboys’ team average was .186. Second base hopeful Brice Matthews is nowhere close, batting .180 and striking out left and right. Outfielder Jacob Melton opened three for 17 following the back injury-delayed start to his season.
As exasperating and boring as the offense has been for so many, grading needs to occur on a curve. So, while the Astros’ team batting average is a joke at .216, know that at close of business Wednesday the entire American League was batting just .232. The American League West-leading Texas Rangers scored eight fewer runs over their first 18 games than did the Astros, though that is skewed by the Astros’ one 14-run outburst against the Angels.
Familiar faces return
This weekend the Astros play host to the San Diego Padres at Daikin Park. The Friars are off to a fabulous start at 15-4. The Padres being here creates a mini reunion as both Martin Maldonado and Yuli Gurriel are on their roster. In a telling fact, Maldonado would have the third-highest batting average on the Astros if on the team with his current numbers. Maldonado is hitting .250 with seven hits in 28 at bats. The last season he finished above .200 was 2020. The only season in his career Maldonado topped .234 was his rookie season with a .266 mark in 2012.
Gurriel was last good in 2021 when he won the American League batting title at .319. He fell off a cliff from there, though perked up to have a fine postseason in the Astros’ 2022 run to World Series title number two. “La Pina” is batting .115 with just three hits in 26 at bats. Gurriel may be released soon, and approaching his 41st birthday June 9, that would probably be the end of the line. Short-timer Astro Jason Heyward is also on the Padres, and batting .190.
For Astro-centric conversation, join Brandon Strange, Josh Jordan, and me for the Stone Cold ‘Stros podcast which drops each Monday afternoon, with an additional episode now on Thursday. Click here to catch!
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