Evil Stands 5'6

 

A headline popped up on Twitter from the Chronicle as I was writing this that just about summed the entire Yankees-Astros thing up for me. "The Astros are Surging...and the Yankees are Concerned."

I can't think of a time from 2015 onward where this doesn't sum up the Yankees-Astros rivalry. The Astros and Yankees have been good this entire stretch, but the Astros have always been better. No matter what the Yankees have in their arsenal, the Astros can always get past it. Sometimes it's because they're stealing signs. Sometimes it's because they're just better. And even this year, when the Yankees have the best team in baseball, the Astros can still steal some games from them, including a frigging no-hitter AT YANKEE STADIUM. 

And then there's Jose Altuve. Who is universally believed to be a great player, except in the Bronx, where he's the spawn of Satan. 

When Altuve retires, his Hall of Fame case is going to be very odd. He was a pure contact hitter for the first 8 years of his career, got 200 hits every year, and then around 2019 he just suddenly became a power hitter, and he's been decent enough at that ever since. The belief is that Altuve will hit 2000 hits either next year or, if he gets really contact-heavy all of the sudden, at the very end of this year. The thing is, though, with how he's emphasized power more than contact lately, I don't even know if he's a shoo-in for 3000 anymore. After the 2018 season, at age 28, Altuve had 1419 hits, and was at the perfect pace to get 3000. Now, I am not so sure that's even a goal for him anymore. Neither is a home run mark. 

I think, even if Altuve is a valuable hitter and a centerpiece of these excellent Astros teams, he's spread himself way too thin to preserve his legacy as either a contact hitter or a power hitter. He tried to do too many things and compromised his ability to do just one of them really well. And also he beat the Yankees in a playoff game using an illegal sign-stealing aid. 

Altuve's still a great player. He's hitting .278 this year with 16 homers and 29 RBIs. Only 70 hits. He fits right in with the power-intensive core of Alvarez, Tucker and Bregman, and he's still an elder statesman who's been there since they were an NL team. I think he's a very important MLB figure and a great player, and I can still think that while also despising him. 

Coming Tomorrow- When the Dodgers signed him, I figured he'd be a fifth starter turned relief piece. Hoo boy, was I wrong.