Houston Astros: Three legitimate MVP candidates reside on the roster

Jose Altuve, 2B

We all know that the Houston Astros star second baseman, Jose Altuve is a perennial MVP candidate. I mean, the dude is just one year removed from his MVP winning season. So, if you didn’t know that you’ve missed out on quite a bit.

Altuve was a novelty when he entered the big leagues in 2011. No one really believed the diminutive 5’6″ second baseman would make it. He was just a warm body for the tanking Astros franchise to put on the field during their rebuilding efforts.

Then he proved to be capable in 2012, making his first All-Star game. However, two years later in 2014, Altuve broke out in a major way collecting over 200 hits for the first time on his way to a .341 batting average, which was a league high. This was the first of several great seasons and the first time he appeared on an MVP ballot.

Altuve continued to improve his game becoming one of the league’s best pure hitters. As he did so, he also began to gain more and more respect from his peers and the general public. He placed third in MVP voting in 2016 and followed that up with his MVP winning season in 2017.

In 2018, Altuve didn’t have the most ideal followup season to his MVP campaign. He “struggled” more at the plate “only” hitting .316. He also was placed on the disabled list for the first time in his career. Unfortunately, he also saw his 200+ hits streak end after four seasons, though, if he would have played a full year, he was on pace to continue it.

Altuve had a procedure done on his knee once the offseason began and he is now fully healthy ready to continue his dominance. There’s no reason why Altuve won’t be able to return to getting over 200 hits and having an average north of .330. The Houston Astros star is one of the best players in the league and being healthy in 2019 will have him back in that MVP conversation.