At the end of his career, Jose Altuve may only be remembered for one thing. But after notching a career milestone on Wednesday evening, Altuve has cemented himself as an all-time great second baseman.
With a two-out double in the top of the third inning off Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Cristopher Sanchez, Altuve recorded his 2,500th career hit. Altuve joined Los Angeles Dodgers first baseman Freddie Freeman as the only active players to hit the 2,500-hit mark. Altuve also joined a very exclusive club of primary second basemen. He became the fifth in MLB history to reach both 2,500 hits and 250 home runs, joining Robinson Cano, Joe Morgan, Rogers Hornsby, and fellow Houston Astro, Craig Biggio.
Altuve is now second in franchise hits, trailing only Biggio, who retired with 3,060 hits. If Altuve can play for a few more seasons in Houston, he has a chance to catch Biggio for the franchise lead in most of the major offensive categories.
Throughout his 16-year career, Altuve has been one of the league’s most consistent hitters. He won the AL MVP Award in 2017, is a seven-time Silver Slugger Award winner, and a nine-time AL All-Star. He has a career slash line of .300/.357/.462, with 270 home runs, 933 RBI, and 329 stolen bases.
Unfortunately for Altuve, he will always be tied to the sign-stealing scandal in Houston that led to the team winning the 2017 World Series. This was also Altuve’s best statistical season and the year he won the MVP Award. Similar to other all-time great hitters like Pete Rose, Alex Rodriguez, and Barry Bonds, it is unclear if Altuve will ever be able to remove himself from the negativity surrounding his actions in 2017.
There is little doubt that Altuve has pieced together a Hall of Fame career and is now one of the five-best second basemen in MLB history. Houston is currently first in the AL West division and is positioned to return to the playoffs for the 11th time in his Astros career.
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