A firm timeline for Jose Altuve was revealed Wednesday as the infielder had surgery on his fractured thumb. Houston Astros GM Dana Brown revealed that it would be two months before Altuve can resume baseball activities, likely keeping him out of the lineup for 10 weeks.
With a formal timeline, Idaho Taters GM Mike Friedrich has announced the second baseman's release.
Over the past ten full seasons, going back to 2012, Altuve has never played fewer than 124 games in an individual campaign. That low tally came in 2019, when a hamstring strain sent him to the injured list for just over a month. Apart from that, all his trips to the IL have been fairly minor, meaning he is now likely facing the most lengthy absence of his career.
Altuve, 33 in May, has been one of the better players in the league in that time but is coming off one of his best seasons to date. He hit 28 home runs, stole 18 bases and walked in a career-high 10.9% of his trips to the plate. His .300/.387/.533 batting line resulted in a 164 wRC+, a career-high figure that indicated he was 64% better than the league average hitter. Defensive metrics were split on the value of his glovework, but he was still ranked as being worth 6.6 wins above replacement by FanGraphs, his highest tally in that department since the infamous sign-stealing season of 2017.
Altuve's addition to the Free Agent Class adds yet another intriguing and big name to follow. It's hard to not attach Altuve to the Mission Viejo Maulers who have been rumored to have interest in fellow injured stars Bryce Harper, Walker Buehler and Carlos Rodon.
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