Jose Altuve’s massive change of heart saved the Astros against the Twins

One of the biggest changes to baseball this season is easily the installation of the ABS challenge system. At the moment, it is largely considered to be a success, as the impact on the flow of the game has been minimal and there have been far fewer egregiously bad calls impacting games, which everyone agrees is for the best. However, there was definitely some hesitance from some players to actually use it, with Houston Astros star Jose Altuve being among the most prominent examples.

When Altuve spoke about his ABS plans this spring, it wasn't from a place that was just resistant to change or anything like that. It just seemed like Altuve didn't think his eye was good enough on close calls to risk losing challenges. As a result, he was just going to leave them to other hitters on Houston's roster.

Thankfully, Altuve has since changed his mind, and ABS has become another weapon in his arsenal, including in the Astros' win over the Twins on Tuesday.

Jose Altuve has become one of Astros' best ABS challengers after overcoming his initial skepticism

No one is denying that Yordan Alvarez was the biggest hero against Minnesota. He came to the plate with the bases loaded and two outs and promptly hit a grand slam into the bullpen to put the Astros ahead. However, Alvarez's big swing wouldn't have happened at all had Altuve not gotten a huge ABS challenge right the batter before.

As you can see, Altuve didn't hesitate for a millisecond to challenge that strike call, and the pitch certainly looked outside at first glance. Instead of a strikeout, Altuve walked to load the bases, setting the stage for Alvarez to do Alvarez things.

What is funny is that Altuve's challenge was not an anomaly. In fact, no Astros hitter has challenged pitches more than Altuve has, which is deeply funny. Altuve clearly gained some confidence in his own eye in the last few months, and it has paid off big, as he is 15-for-21 in challenges so far in 2026. Once someone breaks down who has provided the most value with their challenges combined (and you know that is coming), you can bet that Altuve will be trending towards the top.

In short, it is a good thing that Altuve changed his mind about using ABS, because the Astros would have had a tough time winning against the Twins without that challenge. Given the tightrope that Houston is having to walk right now to stay in contention, it is little things like that that are going to matter the most.

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