DENVER — Ambushing is an art form for Jose Altuve. No active player has more first-pitch hits than the Houston Astros’ heartbeat. Two more Wednesday night wrote another chapter of Altuve’s 15-year ascension from forgotten farmhand to franchise icon.
In the sixth inning, Altuve lofted a first-pitch curveball from Colorado Rockies reliever Jake Bird into shallow center field for his 2,315th major-league hit. Two tiebreaking runs scored, a fact that pleased Altuve far more than another milestone in a career full of them.
Altuve’s single sent him past Hall of Famer Jeff Bagwell for second place on the Astros’ all-time hit list, leaving only one Houston legend to pass and one obvious number for Altuve to reach.
Bypassing Bagwell should begin, in earnest, a pursuit of 3,000 hits that will define the conclusion of Altuve’s career.
Only 33 players have ever collected 3,000 hits, a benchmark that all but guarantees enshrinement in Cooperstown, but it is becoming far more difficult to attain. Craig Biggio needed 20 seasons and 2,850 games to collect the 3,060 hits that still sit atop the Astros’ franchise leaderboard.
Biggio finished his 15th major-league season with 2,295 hits. Altuve has 2,317 after 84 games of his. Los Angeles Dodgers first baseman Freddie Freeman is the only active player with more, making both men the most likely candidates to join one of baseball’s most exclusive clubs. Freeman is eight months older than Altuve and entered Thursday with 202 more plate appearances in his career.

Jose Altuve isn’t oblivious to his place on the leaderboard. (Alex Slitz / Getty Images)
“I think at this point, everything means a lot,” Altuve said Wednesday night after passing Bagwell. “Getting hits is not easy. Every time I get one and every time I get some milestone or something like that, I just get really happy and excited and motivated to keep doing it. They all mean a lot to me.”
Altuve entered Thursday’s game against the Rockies on pace for 156 hits this season. Four more years remain on the five-year, $125 million extension Altuve signed last winter — one that agent Scott Boras acknowledged he negotiated with 3,000 hits in mind.
“The length of this contract was very important so he could achieve and have an opportunity to get 3,000 hits and being able to achieve a goal, and also to stay with a core group of people you knew was going to give this club an opportunity to be competitive,” Boras said at the time.
Altuve has made a career of exceeding expectations, so simply playing the “on pace” game feels foolish. For example, Altuve finished last season with 185 hits.
Still, if Altuve finishes this season with exactly the 156 hits he is on pace to procure and at least matches that output across the next four years, he would sit at 3,012 hits at the contract’s conclusion.
Fracturing his thumb during the 2023 World Baseball Classic cost Altuve 53 games. The pandemic-shortened 2020 season also stalled his pursuit, but Altuve responded with consecutive seasons of more than the 156 hits he is on pace to accrue this season.
Altuve isn’t oblivious to his place on the leaderboard. He acknowledged it Wednesday night, knowing exactly where he stood in relation to Bagwell, a byproduct of checking social media and seeing the numbers. That will only intensify as 3,000 draws closer. Did Wednesday’s milestone make the pursuit more realistic?
“Not yet,” Altuve said. “That’s a lot of hits left. Tomorrow is another day. Let’s get one more and just keep going.”
And so, in the first inning of Thursday’s series finale, Altuve sauntered into the batter’s box. Rockies starter Kyle Freeland fired a first-pitch cutter. Altuve crushed it down the left-field line for a single.
According to Baseball Savant, Altuve finished last season worth minus-9 outs above average at second base, precipitating a request this winter that he switch to left field.
Altuve accepted and has witnessed an entire team thrive. Altuve is more energized and engaged while learning a new position. And in his absence, only the Toronto Blue Jays and Chicago Cubs are extracting more outs above average from their second basemen than the Astros.
Missing both Yordan Alvarez and Jeremy Peña has put the Astros in a situation they’ve sought to avoid: using Altuve as their primary second baseman. Doing so weakens a defensive infield that entered Thursday worth 11 outs above average. Of the five infields worth more, just the Blue Jays reside in the American League.
The team is trying to shield Altuve from cavernous outfields or playing behind extreme fly-ball pitchers, so he’s still received 25 starts at second base during his transition season. Houston has started either Brendan Rodgers or Mauricio Dubón at second base during 59 of its first 87 games.
Rodgers is on the injured list and Dubón will see everyday shortstop duties during Peña’s absence, all but forcing the Astros to play Altuve at second base. Joe Espada acknowledged as much Wednesday, though another alternative exists after news of Alvarez’s most recent setback.
Presuming Peña’s injury is indeed short-term, it may benefit the Astros to put Altuve at designated hitter on a more regular basis when the shortstop returns. Dubón could return to playing primarily second base while either Chas McCormick or Cooper Hummel handles left field. Hummel, specifically, has impressed the Astros with his at-bat quality in a limited sample size.
Altuve has already started a career-high 22 games at designated hitter, including Thursday’s 7-6 loss at Coors Field. Across his first 81 at-bats as a DH, Altuve boasts an .811 OPS — 72 points higher than when he’s in left field and 163 points higher than games he starts at second base.
Espada has an extremely right-handed roster and enjoys the flexibility of having the designated hitter spot available for switch hitting backup catcher Victor Caratini. Hummel is also a switch hitter, and Caratini’s prowess as a pinch hitter still makes him valuable on days he doesn’t start.
Alvarez will reassume regular designated hitter duties if and when he returns this season, so slotting Altuve there isn’t a permanent solution. It would, however, allow the Astros to monitor the workload of a 35-year-old player better while putting him in a position he’s thrived in this season.
“He’s still playing like a young version of Altuve, but I think he’s aware (that) DHing allows him to recover and also allows me to give these younger players opportunities to play,” Espada said.
“Altuve wants us to stay competitive and win. He understands this opens the door for some of these young players to come in and showcase themselves and be able to contribute and help us win games.”
That The Athletic’s Jim Bowden listed Brice Matthews third on his list of prospects most likely to be moved at the trade deadline should come as little surprise.
Matthews is one of the few touted players in Houston’s barren farm system, a middle infielder who just moved onto MLB Pipeline’s Top 100 list and is nearing major-league readiness. Houston just named Matthews its Minor League Player of the Month, and he will represent the team at the Futures Game in Atlanta later this month.
Twice this week, though, the Astros avoided promoting Matthews as injuries invaded their infield. Houston summoned Shay Whitcomb to take Peña’s spot on the active roster before selecting veteran journeyman Zack Short to replace Luis Guillorme.
Second base is Matthews’ primary position. It is also the most unsettled spot on Houston’s major-league roster. With a comfortable cushion atop the American League West and the Astros’ desire to deploy Dubón as a utilityman, it stands to reason a runway existed for Matthews to receive regular playing time.
The team did not seize advantage. After picking Whitcomb to replace Peña, general manager Dana Brown declined to discuss whether the team considered promoting Matthews instead. Espada, who traveled to Puerto Rico this offseason to watch Matthews play winter ball, gave Matthews more effusive praise Wednesday after the team called up Short.
“(It’s) undeniable that this kid is super talented and he is coming and we’re super excited,” Espada said. “I think he has the potential to be an everyday player. Right now, in the position we are in, we just need some versatility. Someone who can come off the bench and I can plug them in.”
Brown has mentioned before that Matthews must make more contact to become a viable major-league option. His defense at second base is also still evolving, too, which accentuates why the Astros are hesitant to summon him. Matthews’ offensive upside is not high enough to justify weakening one of the sport’s best defensive infields.
“Right now, the best thing for him is to continue to get at-bats in Triple A, continue his progress, and he’s doing that. He’s doing a really good job. I’m really excited about Brice Matthews,” Espada said.
“We see him as someone who is going to be an everyday player.
A more pertinent question may be — for whom?
(Top photo: Ronald Martinez / Getty Images)
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