Credit: ESPN
Last week we covered Altuve's rise to stardom winning the World Series in 2017 and garnering numerous other awards throughout an action packed 2017-2019. For the finale, we are going to catch up to the present day and look at Jose's 2020-2023 seasons. Then, at the end, we'll conclude with some final thoughts of the series and why Tuve is a Houston Astros' legend in the making.
2020 Season
In the COVID-shortened 2020 season, Altuve had a fluke season by what his standards are. In 48 games played out of the 60 games total of that season, Altuve batted .219 with five home runs and 18 runs batted in. The Astros would place second in the AL West division behind the Oakland Athletics, but would progress from the Wild Card round beating the Twins to then beat Oakland in the American League Divisional Series. The Astros would ultimately lose in the American League Championship Series to the Tampa Bay Rays in seven games.
Credit: Max's Sporting Studio
While Altuve's regular season was below average, his performance in the ALDS and ALCS that year was exceptional. Altuve batted .400 collecting six hits (two home runs) and five runs batted in the ALDS, and then would go onto to top that in the ALCS collecting 12 hits in the seven games series batting.462 with another three home runs and five runs batted in.
At the end of season, Altuve would not collect any awards or honors for the 2020 season, but above all he demonstrated the clutch and consistency he possesses postseason after postseason.
2021 Season
Altuve's 2021 season can be looked at as an improvement from his below-par 2020 season. While he did not bat in the .300s for batting average like he used to, he did improve to a .278 average and tied a career high with 31 home runs. He would also drive in 83 runs and be named an All-Star mid-season for the seventh time in his career.
The Astros would win the division again and have a relatively stress free run to the World Series defeating the Chicago White Sox in four games in the ALDS, and then beat the Boston Red Sox in six games to progress to the World Series. Ultimately, the 'Stros would be outplayed and lose in six games to the Atlanta Braves in the WS, but Altuve once again demonstrated his talent smashing five home runs and collecting 14 hits in 18 games played throughout the 2021 postseason. Jose would also place 18th in American League Most Valuable Player voting that season.
2022 Season
The 2022 season would be a return-to-form for Altuve. He would go on to hit .300 on the dot, collecting 158 hits in 141 games played and hitting 28 home runs and 57 runs batted in. Altuve would also be in double digits for stolen bases for the first time in three years producing 18 stolen bases. Also, he would be named an All-Star for the eight time, and at the end of the season be named a Silver Slugger for second base for the eighth time and finish fifth in AL MVP voting.
The Astros were dominant, overpowering, and menacing in their 2022 postseason run to the franchise's second World Series title. While Altuve has a poor ALDS and ALCS only collecting three hits in the seven games played between the two series, he would light it up in the World Series against the Philadelphia Phillies batting .308 with 8 hits and five runs scored in the six games played.
Credit: Houston Chronicle
Winning one World Series title in a career is an accomplishment many MLB players don't even get the chance to relish, but Altuve, the small, undersized kid from Maracay, Venezuela now has two World Series rings and counting to showcase for his MLB career.
2023 Season
At the time this article is being written, the 2023 season just concluded and the Astros are in the midst of another postseason run and currently facing the Minnesota Twins in the ALDS.
Altuve had an injury-riddled season, but in the 90 regular season games he played, he batted .311 with 17 home runs, 51 runs batted in, and 14 stolen bases.
Credit: Houston Astros Twitter
August 28, 2023...Altuve hits for the cycle for the first time in his career in a road game against the Boston Red Sox. Altuve would go 4-for-6 that night with a single, double, triple, home run, four runs batted in, and four runs scored. To add to Altuve's amazing feat, this was the Astros' first cycle in 10 years.
Due to the timing of an article, we can't yet get a full scope of Altuve's season due to the Astros still playing in the postseason, but so far, Altuve has gone 3-for-8, batting .375 in Games 1 and 2 against the Twins. Altuve led off Game 1 with a home run on the first pitch of the bottom of the first innings against 6 foot 9 inch tall pitcher Bailey Ober. It's interesting to note that with that home run, there was a 15-inch difference between the pitcher and batter, and also that was Altuve's 24th career postseason home run, which still ranks him second all-time. Altuve still needs 5 more postseason home runs to catch Manny Ramirez with 29 home runs, and six dingers to surpass him. The only closest, active player to Altuve in this historic record is George Springer (Altuve's fellow Astros' teammate and partner in crime at the top of the order during their success from 2014 to 2020) with 19 career postseason home runs.
Final Thoughts
Who knows, there may never be another story like Jose Altuve in Major League Baseball again. The combination of his small stature, yet passion and ability to be a spark for the entire franchise's rebuild and dynasty success is astonishing. At the start of Altuve's career, the 'Stros experienced their lowest of lows and were going through a major rebuild being the worst team in baseball record-wise and producing number one over draft picks. Then, since 2016 when Altuve was in his mid twenties age-wise, the Astros have been successful season after season with a bountiful amount of AL West division title and two World Series rings to showcase for it.
Credit: Behance
Altuve has been the definition of consistent for the Astros at second base and designated hitter. Even though he's had a season or two where he did not perform to the Altuve standards we all know him for, he still has been a force and star hitter at the top of the Astros lineup for over a decade now.
The little boy from Venezuela with big hopes to play in the major leagues had to face constant rejections in his childhood to make it to the big stage. But, once he got to the MLB, he never looked back...
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