Jose Altuve has the most starts at second base of any active MLB player, but that count may have come to a stop as the Houston Astros are planning to play Altuve mostly in left field this season, manager Joe Espada told reporters on Monday.
“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.”
It’ll take some getting used to for Astros fans who’ve watched Altuve man the keystone since his 2011 rookie season. He won the Gold Glove in 2015, and in 2020 led the AL with the fewest errors at second base. He also helped the Astros win the 2022 World Series over the Philadelphia Phillies and the 2017 World Series over the Los Angeles Dodgers, in the year he won the AL MVP.
Altuve’s bat may not be at the level it was during his MVP campaign — he hit .295 in 2024 — but his fielding hasn’t taken a hit. In 2024, he committed just five errors across 146 starts at and led all AL second basemen with a fielding percentage of .989.
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It’s an interesting move as the Astros didn’t go out and acquire a blatant replacement at second base. 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, but with Bregman joining the Red Sox, Paredes will remain at third.
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When talking about Bregman at the team’s FanFest in January, Altuve said, “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.
Mauricio Dubon and Brendan Rodgers have swapped starting duties at second base throughout spring training. Dubon is a utility man who has played every position on the diamond across two seasons in Houston, while Rodgers came to Houston from the Colorado Rockies in free agency.
A nine-time All-Star and three-time batting champion, Altuve has played all but two of his 1,767 major league starts at second base.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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