HOUSTON — Astros second baseman Jose Altuve, who was bothered by a sore right foot in the final two weeks of the regular season, underwent a minor skin aspiration Monday, a source told MLB.com. He will be ready for the start of Spring Training.
Altuve hit .265 with 80 runs, 26 homers and 77 RBIs last season, appearing in 155 games (154 starts). He moved to left field to begin the season but wound up making more starts at his natural position of second base following a right hand injury to Yordan Alvarez that kept him out 100 games. Altuve started 61 games at second, 49 at DH and 44 in left field.
Altuve finished his 15th season with the Astros this year and continues to move up the club’s all-time offensive leaderboard. He moved past Jeff Bagwell and into second place all-time in hits with 2,388, trailing only Craig Biggio (3,060). He’s third in franchise history in extra-base hits (742) and in games played (1,976) behind Biggio and Bagwell, both of whom are in the Hall of Fame. He hit his 250th career homer Aug. 10 against the Yankees en route to becoming the fourth primary second baseman to reach 255 homers and 325 steals. The other three are in the Hall of Fame — Biggio (291 homers, 414 steals), Joe Morgan (268 homers, 689 steals) and Ryne Sandberg (282 homers, 344 steals).
