Healthy and signed, Altuve ready for big '24

JUPITER, Fla. -- It’s been just about one year since Jose Altuve’s season was dramatically altered, all due to one unfortunate pitch in the 2023 World Baseball Classic that sidelined the star second baseman for more than two months.

It wasn’t a lost season, of course. After returning from surgery to repair a right thumb fracture he suffered after he was drilled by a 96 mph fastball from Daniel Bard during the WBC, Altuve wound up putting up typical numbers, just condensed: a .311 average and a .915 OPS in the regular season, then a memorable three-run homer in the AL Championship Series that nearly pushed the Astros to the pennant.

It also led to a five-year contract extension, cementing the catchphrase that followed him for a while after he signed the deal: Astro for life.

Altuve has been in the middle of everything for the Astros for so long that it’s hard to remember a time when he wasn’t the club’s most central figure. This spring, it’s no different, though for Altuve, there might be a little bit of added optimism, even for the always-sunny second baseman. The 33-year-old feels healthy from head to toe, and he’s looking forward to putting in a full season -- his 14th as an Astro.

“I feel 100 percent, I feel really good,” Altuve said prior to the Astros’ 9-1 win over the Marlins on Tuesday. “I’m looking forward to going out there. I think we have a very talented team. I like our chances this year.”

Health is something players do not take for granted. Altuve’s injury issues last year weren’t limited to his thumb; later in the season, he missed about three weeks with an oblique injury that might have been exacerbated by his haste to return from the thumb issue. Having never previously been sidelined with a broken bone, Altuve was in somewhat unfamiliar territory.

“I’d never been in that situation before,” he said. “I had a broken thumb and [worried] about not getting ready physically -- the whole body. I think that’s in the past. It was a hard year, but I feel good about this year.”

Altuve enters the 2024 season with 2,047 hits, leaving him 953 shy of 3,000. He has one more year remaining on his current contract before the new five-year deal kicks in, meaning he’ll need to average nearly 159 hits per season over the six years to reach the 3,000-hit threshold.

Over the past four seasons during which 162 games were played (excluding the shortened 2020 season, but including last year, when Altuve missed more than 70 games), he averaged 146.5 hits per year. That puts him in the general range of staying on pace; a full, healthy season would likely give him a needed bump.

It would also give the Astros the best chance to do something they’ve done nearly every year for just short of a decade -- win the AL West division, and play deep into October.

“When he goes, we go,” manager Joe Espada said. “Having him in the lineup healthy every day is important for us as a whole. He’s looking forward to it. He trained really hard this offseason, to have another Jose Altuve season.”

Brown strong vs. Marlins
Hunter Brown is expected to be part of the Astros’ rotation this year, and his outing on Tuesday against the Marlins gave reassurances that he’ll be ready when the regular season gets underway.

Brown threw 59 pitches (40 strikes), allowing one unearned run on five hits with four strikeouts over 3 2/3 innings. He’s working on a refined slider -- one with slightly less velocity -- and he threw around 10 in the outing vs. the Marlins, per Statcast.

“At times it’s working really well, at times it’s not,” he said. “It’s a new pitch for me. I’m trying to get better with it. I’m using this spring as an opportunity to do that. That was the reason for the addition. I like the progression.”

The 25-year-old right-hander is looking for more consistency after a solid rookie season, but stamina will play a big role. Fatigue might have contributed to a decline in Brown’s numbers in the second half last year, and justifiably so; he logged 155 2/3 regular season innings, the most he had pitched in his pro career. His next-highest inning total was 126 1/3 in ’22, while pitching for Triple-A Sugar Land (106) and Houston (20 1/3).

Brown recorded a 4.12 ERA and a 1.33 WHIP in the first half of ’23 and a 6.57 ERA and a 1.41 WHIP after the All-Star break. He has allowed two runs (one earned) over 7 2/3 innings so far this spring, spanning two starts and a relief outing.

“Good outings, against a lineup that has some speed, some power,” Espada said of Brown’s performance Tuesday. “Executed pitches, held some runners, did a lot of good things. Any positive outcome is always welcome.”