Countdown to Opening Day - 5: Altuve to play large role for revamped Astros
In this 30-day series, theScore's MLB editors will preview the 2015 season with an in-depth look at some of the significant numbers - statistical milestones, jersey numbers and general miscellanea - poised to pop up throughout the campaign.
Jose Altuve doesn't need a growth spurt. He might need a bigger mantle, though.
Despite his inglorious status as the shortest player in Major League Baseball - Altuve stands all of 5-foot-5 - the freakishly talented second baseman further dismantled in 2014 the biases that compelled people to dismiss him earlier in his career.
Even as people belittled him, though, Altuve could always hit. Blessed with preternatural bat-to-ball skills, he compiled a .327 average throughout his minor-league career after signing with the Astros in 2007, showing so much acuity at the plate that Houston felt comfortable promoting him to the majors with just 35 games above the High-A level on his resume.
Since joining the Astros in July of 2011, Altuve's high-contract approach has consistently yielded dividends in the majors. Resolved to hit the ball on the ground and rack up the singles - only 24 qualified hitters managed a higher ground-ball rate from 2011-13 - Altuve tallied a .285 average over his first three seasons with Houston, striking out roughly 10 percent less frequently than league average.
Altuve, however, further refined his contact abilities in 2014. In the first year of a four-year extension with the Astros, he whittled his strikeout rate down to a measly 7.5 percent - the second-best mark in baseball.
| Player | K% | GB% | POPUP% | BABIP | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jose Altuve | 7.5% | 47.5% | 9.9% | .360 | .341 |
| AL average | 19.8% | 44.2% | 10.1% | .298 | .253 |
With his magical 2014 campaign, Altuve joined an exclusive fraternity of diminutive players who excelled offensively at a young age. Only four other players shorter than 5-foot-9 ever collected upward of 200 hits in a season before their age-25 campaign. The only other player to accomplish that feat in the last half-century is one of Altuve's contemporaries, incidentally - another second baseman once roundly dismissed because of his height: Dustin Pedroia.
| Player (Age) | Year | H | SB | Height |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jose Altuve (24) | 2014 | 225 | 56 | 5-foot-5 |
| Dustin Pedroia (24) | 2008 | 213 | 20 | 5-foot-8 |
| Paul Waner (24) | 1927 | 237 | 5 | 5-foot-8 |
| Ross Youngs (23) | 1920 | 204 | 18 | 5-foot-8 |
| Benny Kauff (24) | 1914 | 211 | 75 | 5-foot-8 |
Though Altuve's fortune on balls in play portends regression in 2015 - especially considering how closely his batted-ball profile resembled league average last season - the native Venezuelan will still offer pitchers fits atop Houston's lineup.
There isn't any real estate within the strike zone that Altuve doesn't control, so opposing pitchers must exploit his willingness to chase pitches outside the zone in order to get him out. Even then, there are no guarantees. This dude gets his bat on everything.
(Courtesy: MLB.com)
Altuve's role with the Astros only grows more significant as the team progresses further on the long march back to relevance. Strong performances from youngsters like George Springer last season and some noteworthy additions through free agency this winter only intensified expectations for a team that hasn't managed a winning record since 2008.
For the first time in recent memory, a last-place finish in the American League West is no longer an acceptable outcome for the Astros. And with this new-found sense of expectation, both inside and outside the organization, the pressure on the team's stars, like Altuve, grows.
Fortunately, he has a low center of gravity.