The Houston Astros will send three players to Arlington, Texas, for the 2024 All-Star Game. Jose Altuve, Yordan Alvarez, and Kyle Tucker will represent the team.
All well-deserved honors, there’s a good argument to be made that the Astros have the best trio in baseball. Alvarez, arguably the best hitter in baseball when on his game, earned his third straight All-Star nod.
It’ll be interesting to see what voters decide to do with the Houston star due to the cheating scandal, but it’d be crazy to leave arguably the best second baseman in MLB history out of Cooperstown.
At 34 years old, all Altuve continues to do is swing the bat at a high level. He earned his ninth All-Star game appearance and his fifth start. The 5-foot-6 star is slashing .309/.359/.464 with 13 home runs, 18 doubles and 41 RBI.
According to Sarah Langs of MLB.com, Altuve’s fifth start puts him in elite company.
“This will be Jose Altuve’s fifth All-Star Game start, breaking a tie with Craig Biggio for most in Astros’ franchise history. The only players with more seasons making an All-Star start at second base are Ryne Sandberg (nine), Roberto Alomar (nine), Rod Carew (eight), Nellie Fox (seven), Joe Morgan (seven), Charlie Gehringer (six) and Billy Herman (six).”
Whenever a player can be put on the same list as some of the greatest to ever play the game, it’s an indication of the type of player they are. While all excellent in their own regards, one could argue that Altuve is the best out of all of them.
Biggio, an Astros all-time great, was named to seven All-Star Games and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2015.
The big power hitter is slashing .298/.382/.545 with an OPS+ of 162. He has 19 home runs, 21 doubles and 50 RBI.
Tucker, who some might consider the best all-around player of the three, is slashing .266/.395/.584 with an OPS+ of 176. He has an impressive 19 home runs, 11 doubles and 40 RBI in just 214 at-bats as he’s dealt with an injury.
Then there’s Altuve, who should be a Hall of Famer one day.
Winning should only help Altuve and Houston get even more respect for the team they’ve been, despite everything that happened. Now in a position to win the division after struggling to start the year, the Astros look like they could be playing deep into October again.
