Astros lineup tweak turned Jose Altuve loose, but Yordan Alvarez's return may ruin it

The Houston Astros lineup has seen some highs and lows this season, but there've been a lot more highs since Jose Altuve was moved down to No. 3 in the batting order. Will that alteration remain the same once Yordan Alvarez returns from the injured list? Astros fans may find that out sooner rather than later.

Altuve began the 2025 season as the Astros' leadoff hitter. After 26 games, however, the former MVP requested to be moved down in the batting order — apparently being your mid-30s and running in from left field can take the wind out of your sails.

While Altuve may have had a few more minutes to catch his breath batting behind newly installed leadoff hitter Jeremy Peña, his numbers were no better. In fact, they were much worse. Altuve hit just .191/.276/.294 batting second, and recently Astros manager Joe Espada decided to bump Isaac Paredes up in the lineup and move the face of the franchise down to No. 3. The results speak for themselves.

Will Jose Altuve still bat third in Astros lineup when Yordan Alvarez returns from the injured list?

Since May 19, Altuve has been hitting third in the Astros lineup behind Peña and Paredes. In that eight-game span, he's hitting .438/.457/.813 with a 254 wRC+. Altuve has four home runs and seven RBI to go along with 10 singles. The Astros' All-Star appears rather comfortable batting third in the lineup.

But that's historically been Alvarez's spot in the Astros' batting order. Outside of five games this season, Alvarez has taken his hacks as the No. 3 hitter on Espada's lineup card. With the Astros slugger readying to return from the IL— possibly by the end of the month — what will Espada's lineup look like?

The simplest answer, and most likely, is that Altuve will remain batting third and Alvarez will slide down and hit cleanup for the Astros once he's back in the starting lineup. A hand injury has kept Alvarez out of the Astros' lineup since early-May, but he's been taking batting practice and Espada said Houston is waiting for word from the slugger himself.

The old saying goes, "Don't mess with a good thing." That good thing at the moment is Altuve hitting third in the Astros lineup. The Houston faithful shouldn't expect that to change once Alvarez returns, but it will be an intriguing development to follow once the Astros return to full strength.

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