Jose Altuve has played 1,767 games in the field during his Major League baseball career and he has played second base in all 1,767. That will change in 2025 when the Houston Astros send their slugger to left field.
It’s a sudden change for the career Astro, but all indications at Houston camp in West Palm Beach, Florida are that Altuve is embracing the challenge.
“He’s like a kid in a candy store right now,” Astros first base coach Dave Clark told Chandler Rome of The Athletic. “This is a challenge for him and he’s going to go out and give it the best effort he possibly can.”
“Sometimes we just have to slow him down a little bit because he wants to do too much too soon,” he added.
Altuve is a former Gold Glove winner at second base, but as he’s aged, his effectiveness has dropped. With -41 defensive runs saved since 2022, Altuve actually ranks dead last among all position players in baseball. He’s hoping the move to left field helps slow his defensive decline.
“He’s created the environment for instruction because he has spent a lot of time asking us questions,” outfield coach Jason Bell said. “Almost any time we’re out there, there’s a bunch of questions that come up, so it makes it a lot easier as a coach. He’s providing the things that he wants to learn about, so we can help him feel comfortable.”
The Astros have options to fill their hole at second base
Moving Altuve to the outfield, of course, opens a hole in the Astros’ infield. Thankfully for them, they have options.
Utility man Mauricio Dubon will likely get his share of reps at the position and brought in Brendan Rodgers as a non-roster invitee to spring training. Both have won Gold Gloves in their careers but are mediocre hitters at best. Rodgers hit .267 with the Colorado Rockies last year over 135 games, but that led to only 13 home runs and a 94 OPS+ despite him playing half his games at Coors Field.
As for Dubon, he played every position except for pitcher and catcher last year, including 22 games at second base. He hit .269 but had only four home runs and an 88 OPS+.
Meanwhile, journeymen Luis Guillorme and Zack Short are both in camp with the Astros and will get a look.
“We like some of the tools of some of these guys we brought into camp,” Astros manager Joe Espada told The Athletic last week. “We are just creating a nice little competition to see who can get some repetitions if Jose is playing left field, who can play second base. There’s also some bench roles here that are up for grabs. That’s our goal behind all this.”
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