Jose Altuve

Jose Carlos Altuve (born May 6, 1990) is a Venezuelan professional baseball second baseman for the Houston Astros. He has been with the team since 2011, making him the longest-tenured active Astro and the only current player who was on the club when it still belonged to the National League. Altuve is considered one of the best players in franchise history and among the top second basemen ever to play the game. He has also represented Venezuela in the 2017 and 2023 World Baseball Classics.

Born and raised in Maracay, Venezuela, Altuve signed with the Astros as an amateur free agent in 2007 and made his MLB debut in 2011. At 5 feet tall and 166 pounds, he is the shortest active player in the league and holds the record for most home runs by any player of that height. From 2014 to 2017, he collected at least 200 hits each season, leading the American League in hits every year and winning three batting titles—the first Astro ever to do so. His 225 hits in 2014 set a franchise record. That same year, he became the first player in more than 80 years to reach 130 hits and 40 stolen bases before the All-Star Game. Altuve has won seven Silver Slugger Awards, tied for the most ever by a second baseman, and one Gold Glove.

In 2017, Altuve won the American League MVP Award and the Hank Aaron Award, and helped the Astros win the World Series. That year, he was also named co-Sportsperson of the Year by Sports Illustrated alongside NFL star J. J. Watt for their work in Hurricane Harvey relief. Additional honors from 2017 include the Associated Press Male Athlete of the Year, The Sporting News Major League Player of the Year (making him the fifth player to win that award in consecutive years), and Baseball America Major League Player of the Year. In 2019, he hit a walk-off home run to win the American League Championship Series, earning ALCS MVP honors. He won a second World Series with the Astros in 2022. While Altuve has faced criticism related to the Astros’ sign-stealing scandal, later reports indicate he did not take part in the scheme.

Altuve’s nine All-Star selections are the most of any Astro, and he has been voted the starting second baseman six times—a feat matched by only two other players at that position in American League history. He has twice led the AL in stolen bases. During a six-season stretch in which the Astros won two World Series and four pennants, Altuve established himself as one of the greatest postseason hitters ever. Through the 2025 postseason, he ranks second all-time in postseason home runs (27), second in runs scored (89), third in hits (118), sixth in games played (105), and seventh in RBIs (56). Ten of his home runs have been go-ahead shots, three in the ninth inning, the most in postseason history. From 2011 to 2021, he had 31 games with four hits, the most in MLB during that span, and he also leads the league in games with three or more hits since 2011, with over 200 such games.

Altuve grew up in Maracay, Venezuela. At age seven, he met future major league catcher Salvador Pérez, and the two competed together starting in Maracay and later in American League games.

At 16, Altuve showed up to an Astros tryout camp in Maracay, but scouts turned him away, thinking he was too short and might have lied about his age. The next day, encouraged by his father, he returned with his birth certificate. Astros special assistant Al Pedrique asked him, “Can you play?” Altuve replied, “I’ll show you.” Pedrique convinced the front office of his talent, and after an evaluation, the club signed him as an international free agent on March 6, 2007, for a $15,000 bonus.

Altuve hit .343 in the Venezuelan Summer League in 2007, then moved to the U.S. in 2008, batting .284 for the Rookie-level Greeneville Astros. In 2009, he hit .324 with 21 stolen bases in 45 games for Greeneville, earning league All-Star honors, team MVP, and a promotion to the Tri-City ValleyCats. In 2010, he hit .308 with 39 steals and 11 home runs for the Lexington Legends, made the league All-Star team, and later hit .276 for the Lancaster JetHawks. Returning to Lancaster in 2011, he batted .408 with 19 steals in 52 games. After a promotion to the Corpus Christi Hooks, he hit .361, finishing the minor league season with a combined .389 average, 24 steals, 26 walks, and 40 strikeouts in 357 at-bats. He was named to Baseball America’s Minor League All-Star Team and was the Astros’ Minor League Player of the Year. He was called up to the majors that summer, skipping Triple-A.

Altuve represented the Astros at the 2011 All-Star Futures Game on July 10. Nine days later, on July 19, the Astros promoted him to the major leagues.