WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — Between the eighth and ninth inning of Thursday’s Grapefruit League game, Jose Altuve grabbed his oversized bat bag and bolted toward the left-field bullpen, where the Houston Astros’ home clubhouse is accessible through an adjacent door.
Few players of Altuve’s pedigree are playing nine innings in mid-March. Mauricio Dubón and Isaac Paredes departed Thursday’s game after five innings. Jeremy Peña exited after seven.
Instead of joining them, Altuve left his bag inside the bullpen and began the game’s final frame in the outfield. His first live experiences in left field have grown so uneventful that the face of Houston’s franchise is clamoring to play more innings than the team intended.
“That’s the effort I want,” manager Joe Espada said afterward. “That’s the leadership I’m looking for. That’s Jose Altuve in a nutshell.”
This entire experiment is energizing Altuve, a fact that has been solidified during this first month in south Florida. A 34-year-old superstar seeking more exhibition innings is rare, even amid a possible position change.
Altuve appears all-in on playing left field, but championship-contending clubs can’t make choices rooted in emotion. Nine Grapefruit League games remain for the Astros to render a season-defining decision, one that could alter the career of a man who may be destined for Cooperstown.
Espada has avoided anointing Altuve his everyday left fielder, though numerous actions suggest that is the plan. Altuve has started in left field during seven of his eight Grapefruit League appearances. Almost all of his pregame work on the back fields remains with the outfielders, where progress is palpable.
“Progress enough for me to feel good about him playing left field,” Espada said. “It’s been good. We all knew about his athleticism, but I just like the effort and the time he’s spending out there. He cares about this team. He cares about his work and we’re going to continue to give him an opportunity to help him out in left.”
Jose Altuve makes a throw in a March 5 spring training game against the Cardinals. (Rich Storry / Imagn Images)
Espada said he wants to “use our next two weeks wisely” before making any final decisions. A lack of any live action in Grapefruit League games is perhaps the only complicating factor.
Altuve seemed almost frustrated on Thursday that he’s received “probably like five or six” fly balls in the seven spring training games he’s started in the outfield. He can still practice positioning, pre-pitch reactions and reading swings, but the Astros are in search of more meaningful tests for a franchise icon in transition.
Thursday provided the closest thing. The wind blew from right to left throughout a cloudless afternoon against the St. Louis Cardinals, who brought a representative lineup filled with regulars. One of them, Iván Herrera, hammered a high fly ball toward Altuve in the second inning.
Altuve took an efficient route, reached out his right arm in search of the wall and found himself with a chance to catch the baseball. Whether he even needed to jump is unclear. Altuve did anyway, mistimed his leap and watched the ball bounce on the warning track behind him.
CACTI Park of the Palm Beaches does not have Statcast, eliminating any public catch or hit probability metrics for Herrera’s fly ball. Calling it routine seems disingenuous, but it is still a play most major-league outfielders are expected to make.
If Altuve is the Astros’ everyday left fielder, it is the type of play he’ll be expected to master. Eighty-one games in Daikin Park’s climate-controlled environment will eliminate some of what made Thursday’s play difficult, but Houston can’t count on that luxury all season.
“He got to the spot he wanted to get to and then he forgot to find the wall first,” Espada said. “That cost him to mistime his leap. I thought his direction and the jump he got on the ball is exactly what we’re looking for, he just needs to time it better.”
Altuve froze in the aftermath. Center fielder Jake Meyers corralled the baseball and threw it back to the infield. When the inning concluded a few minutes later, Altuve engaged with Meyers — a reigning Gold Glove finalist in center field — while both men ambled toward the dugout.
First-base coach Dave Clark greeted Altuve once he arrived. Clark is one of two coaches shadowing Altuve throughout his transition to the outfield and his importance in this endeavor cannot be overstated.
Altuve’s trust in Clark is unmatched, so much so that Altuve eschews the positioning cards all outfielders carry in favor of looking toward Clark to position him before pitches. After Thursday’s gaffe, the two men had a quick debrief, though Altuve expected more on Friday after Clark had time to analyze the video.
“I feel like every ball I get is going to be a new thing, something I can learn and make adjustments (from) in the future,” Altuve said.
“Everything that I get from now until the beginning of the season is a test and something to learn from. We just have to make the adjustments quick and go from there.”
After Altuve spoke with Clark, he found his manager. Espada has prioritized Altuve’s feedback throughout this transition, one the skipper often says Altuve didn’t have to make. His selflessness isn’t lost on anyone involved in this decision-making.
Treating Altuve with similar tact is Espada and the organization’s foremost goal. That Altuve is so eager to play left field simplifies the task. This entire experiment would’ve ended weeks ago if Altuve had expressed any reservations. After his first true failure, how did Altuve respond?
“I want to stay out there for nine innings,” he told Espada.
(Top photo: Rich Storry / Getty Images)
