No one can outrun the aging curve forever, not even Jose Altuve. At 36, some signs of decline have become increasingly hard to ignore. Strikeouts are increasing, for example. The power is down. Bat speed is dropping. Unfortunately, we will likely never see the 2016-23 version of Altuve ever again. That’s a shame, because at his peak powers, Altuve could do some unexpected yet spectacular things on a baseball field on a seemingly regular basis.
But a declining Altuve still has moments where you just scratch your head in wonder.
Altuve has long been known for his penchant for swinging at pitches that frankly no one should be chasing. We’ve all seen the clips over the years of him flailing at a pitch not too dissimilar from Andrés Muñoz’s slider last night, which Altuve poked this time for a crucial base hit to keep the inning alive. Yet there are plenty of instances when he just flails hopelessly against a pitch thrown that far and away.
Even at Altuve’s best, he has never finished above the 55th percentile in chase rate among qualified hitters. That 55th-percentile season came in 2022 and is by far the highest mark of his career since Statcast began recording that data. But in recent years, Altuve’s chase rate has fluctuated between the 5th and 27th percentiles, currently in the 17th percentile this season. Those levels of chase rates are typically an issue for hitters.
Altuve isn’t necessarily an exception to the rule here. But he’s had just enough success with chasing outside pitches over the years, with his incredible bat to ball skills, it’s an aspect of his approach that’s tolerated more. After all, since 2015, pitches thrown in the following attack zones (17, 18, 19, 27, 28, 29, 37, 38, 39), hitters across MLB have a .175 batting average. Altuve, however, has a .234 batting average on pitches thrown in the same attack zones.
There are instances throughout the years when Altuve’s swing decisions cost the Astros. And it’ll happen again. He’s also able to convert some of those decisions into hits when you least expect it. That’s part of the allure of Altuve, who has defied the odds for his entire career. While he no longer remains an elite hitter, his at-bat on Friday against Muñoz proves that he can still do the unexpected. Let’s enjoy these moments from him while we still can.
Mariners @ Astros Game Information and Gamethread Details
With a 6:10 CT start time, the Astros will send Hayden Wesneski to the mound with the Mariners countering with Emerson Hancock.
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Feature photo from Astros on X
What I am asking from Espada is not difficult. Be alert! When the players start drifting away from the game plan, bring them back to follow the course. However, “being alert” with Espada is a losing proposition.
Espada is too busy playing on his Nintendo Switch in the dugout to pay attention after the game starts, most days.
Joe watching his team play the Mariners: “I really want to play the Nintendo switch 2 after the game and I don’t know why…”
Ah, now I know why we can only win against them when we walk off.
Joe is a huge Nintendo fan and when they sponsored the Mariners, he subconsciously stopped managing to win whenever playing against the team sponsored by his favorite dugout activity
“ Unfortunately, we will likely never see the 2016-23 version of Altuve ever again.”
We just won’t see it very often. But we saw it in that 10th inning AB: A short guy standing way off the plate getting a base hit off a pitch that grazed the opposite batter’s box and had the worms ducking.
Amen to that. And now and then his other side appears too: a short guy smacking home runs and doubles like he’s a 6′ 3″ power hitter.