The rosters for the Futures Game, which is held during All-Star weekend, was announced recently and the Astros have a player who made the cut. Second baseman Jose Altuve will be representing the Astros on Team World as they take on highly touted prospect Bryce Harper and Team USA.
For those that don’t know who Altuve is, they should as he has been tearing up the minor leagues. According to Baseball Reference, Altuve is only 5’7 and 170 pounds but has some serious power behind that bat. Between High A and Double AA he is hitting .399 with eight home runs and 52 RBI. Not to mention he has shown some speed as well, swiping 24 bases already.
He joined the Astros organization back in 2007 as a 17 year old and some questioned his abilities due to his small stature but Jose has done everything he could to prove them wrong. He has improved every season and you can’t argue with his stats. It will be interesting to see how he does against some of the other top talent in the minor leagues. I would not be surprised to see him up with the Astros’ organization sometime over the next two years if he continues to produce like he has been at the higher levels.
For those interested, the rest of the lineup for the Futures Game can be found here.