9:43PM: The “initial concern” is that Altuve had suffered a broken right thumb, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic tweets, but it isn’t confirmed if this is Altuve’s actual injury.
8:56PM: According to Astros GM Dana Brown, Altuve’s injury is to his right hand. The second baseman is undergoing tests now, and the Astros will have more information on Sunday. (Hat tip to Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle.)
8:48PM: Jose Altuve was removed during the fifth inning of tonight’s United States/Venezuela World Baseball Classic game after being hit on the right hand with a pitch. The 95.9 mph sinker from Daniel Bard sailed up and in, catching Altuve and knocking the second baseman to the ground. Altuve was in visible discomfort as he left the field, with a team trainer supporting Altuve’s right hand and wrist area.
More will be known about the nature of the injury once an official announcement is made to media, and a more in-depth diagnosis won’t be known until Altuve undergoes tests and imaging. Regardless of the outcome of tonight’s game for Venezuela, it would certainly appear as though Altuve has played his last game of the 2023 WBC, as the Astros will undoubtedly want their longtime star back in camp for fuller examination of the injury.
With Edwin Diaz’s knee surgery still lingering in the public consciousness, it would be devastating to see another marquee name lost due to another significant injury in WBC play. A hand or wrist issue may not carry the potentially season-ending weight of Diaz’s knee injury, but the worst-case scenario of a fracture or outright break could still mean a lengthy absence for Altuve.
Altuve continues to excel as he approaches his 13th Major League season, as he hit .300/.387/.533 with 28 homers in 2022 while helping the Astros capture their second World Series championship. With eight All-Star appearances and the 2017 AL MVP Award, Altuve has become the face of this golden era of Astros baseball, and one of the sport’s most prominent names.
Houston’s bench depth was already something of a question mark given the relative lack of big league experience on hand, and that could become an even more glaring problem if Altuve is out of action. Utilityman Aledmys Diaz signed with the A’s in free agency, and Houston was expected to use David Hensley and Mauricio Dubon as the primary utilitymen this season. Rylan Bannon was also claimed off waivers from the Tigers and Dixon Machado is in camp on a minor league deal, but in the event that Altuve faces a long absence, the Astros might be quickly scouring the market for any free agents available now, or who might enter the market as teams make their final spring cuts.
Ah, yes, another reason teams should bar players from participating in the WBC.
Kay – How do you know he wouldn’t have gotten hit in a ST game instead?
Turner took a pitch to the face in ST, probably wouldn’t have happened if he was playing in the WBC.
If he got hurt in a game for Houston, there would be no choice but to accept it. But he got hurt playing under someone else’s control.
That would be like having your child get hurt in car accident with you or your spouse driving vs having your child get hurt in someone else’s car. Yes, the child is hurt either way, but one way you know exactly what happened and the other there is always a little doubt.
Hiflew… none of those two scenarios would make me feel any better, and truthfully, there is nothing within my control to prevent that from ever happening again unless the child is never in a car again.
I understand that people want to control accountability but that is not good thinking, really it should be only about total risk.
Yes of course he might not have gotten hit in another game but you have to think probablistically and if you do that there couldn’t be another conclusion other than the risk is about the same in a spring training game.
Psychologically it is normal that people are thinking in causalities but really you should think I probabilities and accept that there is random chance.
“Control” is an illusion, life is a series of coin flips and rolling the dice, you can just try to play it so that the odds are in your favor a little more.
We see that with self driving cars.people get way more mad when someone gets killed by a self driving car, because they want control and accountability and psychologically that is understandable but how much is that worth?
Imagine the risk of your kid getting killed in a car accident.that is a terrible thought but assuming a self driving car is 100 times safer than you driving, would you still prefer controlling it yourself and putting your kid in a greater risk to avoid the risk of the pain of losing your child without someone being “accountable” and thus giving up control? Or would you give up the control and instead chose the lower risk at the risk that an accident happens that you don’t control?
Many people would chose the latter but only because they overrate their own control over the situation (especially drivers tend to overrate their skill)
Risk isn’t the same though. WBC pitchers are throwing with everything they have even though most of them aren’t ready for that yet.
Yeah, because a guy getting hit by a pitch on live television is the same as your kid getting an accident in someone else’s car.
Jeez, the stuff you read on here is incredible.
If he got hurt in a game for Houston, there would be no choice but to accept it.
========================
IMO, the only thing that matters if there is a disparity of risk. I am taking no more risk of getting hit by a meteor going to a Yankee game than going to work, so there no reason to blame the Yankee game for me getting hit by a meteor.
It’s called an analogy man. I didn’t mean they would make you feel the same.
This is idiotic the odds of this are like 1 in 1 trillion.
It’s not an analogy because there are a ton of other factors and circumstances at play. Stop writing nonsense!
I honestly don’t have a problem with players playing in the WBC, but I would like the decision be up to the team, not the player. These players have signed a contract to play for whatever team, they should not get to say just wait I am going to go play for someone else for a while. If a team says, it is OK go play in the WBC and then come back, then that is fine. But if a team says we would prefer you skip this tourney and prepare for the upcoming season with your teammates, that should be fine too. The players are not supposed to be the boss and with this I get the feeling that they are for whatever reason.
That’s exactly what happened. The yankees didn’t want their players in the wbc, so none of them did. If other teams had a problem with their players participating in the wbc, they wouldn’t have let them go. Injuries happen whether they’re in ST, the wbc, the regular season or riding your bike during the off-season. Deal with it.
The risk of injury is considerably greater playing in the wbc, then in spring training. The players left spring training after two weeks to play in a high level tournament. The intensity is miles higher than it is in spring training.
Do you think lack of training time caused Altuve’s injury? How about Diaz?
Diaz’s injury was just caused by his only playing for the Mariners and Mets and not really knowing how to celebrate a victory safely
Well I have a feeling that if too many franchises, especially ones that didn’t own their own cable network, made that decision that Rob Manfred would have gently nudged them into changing their minds.
Gleyber Torres is playing for Venezuela (was, we got beaten… Darn)
I’m more concerned about pitchers playing in the WBC than position players. They seem to be more fragile as far as spring training timelines for developing their stamina. They may pitch more since the games mean more.
FALSE nestor cortes was in the wbc until he got hurt
Gleyber Torres played for Venezuela.
Loaisiga and Higashioka and some minor leaguer I can’t remember also played. The Yanks had fewer players than all others, but no team had fewer than four players under contract in the WBC.
Risk of injury is also greater when you don’t have a buzzer warning you where the ball is headed. Lack of Astros infrastructure hurts, sometimes literally.
That is a Hall of fame comment ! LOL!
Actually the Yankees did have players in the WBC. They didn’t however let Severino play due to injury concerns.
The intensity of WBC tournament play combined with the rustiness of spring training level play is a recipe for disaster.
Playing sport for you Country is an honour and a privilege. I have done it. It fills one with pride so no professional sports person would accept a contract that barred this.
It is what it is.
I hope he recovers soon.
Fortunately, the WBC is not held annually. Maybe they should make a rule that any player under contract for $10 mil AAV or higher can be withheld unless the country he is going to play for is willing to pay for missed time due to injury, unless it is a bonehead celebration injury.
…in the case of a boneheaded celebration injury, the player forfeits pay until healthy enough to play and fulfill his contractual obligation.
All players are insured and teams don’t lose money because of an injury if that is your concern. Maybe should read more articles on here or around the world. Been mentioned more than often.
Love everything about WBC but I think it should be played in early November
Where do you think insurance money comes from? It doesn’t just magically appear whenever there is an accident. Premiums will go up across the board when big insurance payments have to be made. The Mets are still paying for it, but they get help from all other insurance customers as well.
The WBC pays for the insurance. If the player is uninsurable like Verlander and Kershaw, then they are not allowed to play.
Maybe Altuve should’ve used his technology to see where the pitch was going
**seal clapping** So original. Name certainly checks out.
Right back atchu.. did AT&T vibrate in and help you with that comment as well?
Hey, at least someone other than the Mets are getting negatively impacted by a tournament that shouldn’t be held right in the middle of spring training when guys are still getting loose and feel for pitches, so I’m cool with this.
There were multiple players injured across multiple teams. Edwin Diaz is the big one, but the Mets and Astros aren’t the only teams being impacted. Anyway, last night’s US Venezuela game was phenomenal. I’m loving the WBC. Injuries happen. Nimmo, Turner and Lux all got hurt in Spring Training.
Wow!
Stop saying wow.
This news is def wow-worthy
Don’t stop saying “wow”. I appreciate it.
Go buy a dog, make it a che-Wow-wa
Too much ankle bite/yap, maybe better a Wow-mehr-honor.
You make me miss Mr lol
Thanks
It would be a real shame if a guy with such integrity, such honesty, such a sense of fair play as Jose Altuve was injured. I would feel so sad for him.
It’s sad that people are still hung up about 2017.
What happened in 2017?
No it’s just sad that Houston fans ‘forget’ and sweep 2017 under the carpet like it didn’t happen. In another year or two Houston will soon be cellar dwellers…and you Houston ppl will start wearing bags over your heads like you did for so many years in the NL
No one has forgotten or swept anything under the rug. Especially Houston fans. How could they when they hear the same tired crybaby nonsense every single day from bitter, know-nothing losers like you? All that happened going on six years ago. MLB handed out punishment. If you have a problem with it, take it up with MLB. Otherwise give it a rest and move on because nobody has been cheating for some time now. You just can’t stand that the Astros are, top to bottom, way better than whatever crap team YOU root for. And will continue to be so for the foreseeable future. #GoAstros
Houston will always be tarnished now, even in a few years when they are cellar dwellers again like they were in the NL…when ya’ll go back to wearing paper bags over your heads ‘again’ hahaha
justice. it’s sad the cheaters were never really punished. Altuve and the rest of the cheaters should of been banned! it’s sad they are still allowed to play! Noone will ever forget and move on until all these players are out of the league! none of them will ever make the hof! they tarnished thier name and mlb
Houston will see be dominating the West in 3 years. Don’t kid yourself.
goast – So what you’re saying is you don’t know what the buzz is all about?
I know ‘what the buzzer is all about.’ Its about fans of underachieving teams with mediocre lineups and Triple A pitching staffs (like the Yankees) needing a boogeyman and improbable excuses why their team can’t hit elite pitching, and gets SWEPT out of the ALCS while striking out 50+ times in 4 games. There never was any buzzer. MLB looked into it and cleared everyone. Deal with it. #WeWantHouston
Yankees were also found to have been using technology to steal signs. From the way MLB made less of a fuss of it with each subsequent team, it’s hard not to believe that it was rather widespread throughout the game. Besides stealing signs in and of itself is not against the rules just the use of technology was. With the advances in technology it was only a matter of time til teams were caught.
now c’mon feverpitchguy, you know you can’t talk. The entire 2018 cheating Sox team had career years (Mookie, JD, Benni, JBJ etc.) and since then haven’t even come close to their peak nor have they even had back to back winning seasons lol. Wicked smaht! lolol
No, it’s just sad that people like you, drfelix, are still salty as hell. Move on. People have been predicting Houston’s downfall the past three years and it has yet to actually happen, so enjoy being wrong.
I see what you did there.
He will be saying the same thing three years from now when Houston wins the division yet again.
gostros123 — Like Barry Bonds, Pete Rose, and the Black Sox, 2017 Astros are cheaters. For perpetuity.
It’s part of the Astros brand. Forever. And Ever.
Cheater cheater cheeto banditos
You just named a bunch of Legends. Shoeless Joe and the Black Sox, Hit King Pete Rose, Greatest Hitter of all Time Bonds, and the Astros Dynasty. Elite company to be in for sure.
And the Astros will succeed in spite of that. Lots of people want the Astros suck again. Maybe they should consider the possibility of forgiveness being their kryptonite, where as you forgive them and let go, they lose 100 games again. Thus, you get your wish of them being bad again. Who knows!
They should make a bumper sticker for these losers that says ‘Make the Astros Suck Again.’
The Astros “ORGANIZATION” were the caught up in a cheating scandal. The ORGANIZATION was CAUGHT & PENALIZED accordingly. Whether fans of other teams admit it or not,the Astros penalties were pretty severe. The team is considered to be a family. The entire team (family) didn’t participate in the cheating. Whether they were complicit by keeping their mouths shut is very debatable. Would you volunteer that a relative of yours was cheating on their spouse to their spouse? Would you volunteer that your sibling was shoplifting? Would you volunteer that your child had “one to many drinks” to the police?
Yes I would I have integrity, Like Fiers eventually did.
Yeah Fiers is so full of integrity. He waited until he was on another team to rat them out. So much for integrity.
And cashed his World Series check.
Rubbish. The name Astros is synonymous with cheating. They were all guilty and that fact will be tattooed on their faces for all of eternity. None of the weak lies and excuses of their bitter defensive fanbase will alter that FACT..
Well it is a good thing he eventually told the truth. Right? Astros kept their titles, so why would Astro fans be mad that the turn was exposed. Nobody got hurt. Telling the truth is always good. Even if it is late.
Prospectnvstr — When you’re caught cheating at a Casino, do you get to keep the money?
When you’re caught cheating on your Taxes, do you get to keep what you should have paid?
When you’re caught cheating on school tests, do you get to keep the grade?
When you’re caught cheating in the Olympics, do you get to keep the medals?
They Cheated to win a WS…and they got to keep a title they Cheated to gain.
Cheating is one thing. Caught cheating another thing. Getting away w/ cheating after being Caught …that’s some @#&$!?.
The things is though – Astros fans don’t care that non-Astros fans consider their brand tarnished. And non-Astro fans don’t care that Astros fans don’t care. So that debate isn’t worth having.
Unless you enjoy having it. In which case, it’s worth having. But there is no way to ever convince the other side. It’s all just a thing that happened, and what can you do?
You were saying that 2 years ago
I feel bad for Saratoga’s mom. Must be tough being from Bunker Hill.
She was from Kilkee, Ireland
Smoke ‘‘em if you got em
they still talk about the Black Sox scandal. and that was over a hundred years ago.
As you can ascertain from that fact, such things are not soon forgotten or forgiven and it is a mark all Astro fans will bear like a Harry Potter scar for all the see, for quite a long time.
Such is the fate of teams that disgrace the game of baseball.
Sure, but a hundred years from now, it will be talked about with far less salty tears.
It’s funny hearing a Yankees fan talk like their team wasn’t the team that taught Houston how to do it. Your team was just as guilty as Houston.
Or that the Yankees didn’t try a lesser version of a similar system. Let’s not forget Judge’s goldilocks.
They act like they didn’t eventually figure out how to relay the signs to the hitter without a runner on second. Of course they found their own way. With as hard as Yankees homers like Jomboy pushed the false narrative about the buzzers I wouldn’t be surprised if that’s how they were doing it. That and the same random twitter account accusing Altuve of it accused Torres of wearing one the game before.
Maybe if they go into witness protection , move to another town, change their name, wear a disguise like Bobby Valentine, people won’t know- become like the Tacoma Pilots. Else- same old Cheatro Banditros that dogs and small children point to and laugh
no doubt other teams have probably tried something.
I am sure other teams before the White Sox fixed games.
But the White Sox and the Astros are the teams’ everyone will remember.
Can’t help you with that.
Lest you forget, this isn’t just a Yankee perspective, the Astros cheated everyone. The Red Sox, the teams in their division.
The Angels were 5 games back of Minnesota for the other wild card spot.
Who is to say had the Stros not cheated the Angels, that they wouldn’t have had a better record, perhaps even securing a postseason appearance.
I just hope the ring was worth it to him.
loser
We all lose sometimes.
Of anyone on the Houston teams he does have the most integrity. Multiple people have said he never took part in it, but he has never thrown any of his teammates under the bus. Hate on the other guys all you want, but Altuve doesn’t deserve the hate he receives.
“Hate”? There it is again. Apparently “disliking” someone now means “hating” them. Why is that? When did it get this way? If you dislike someone or something, you automatically “hate” it. Weird.
That said…. Yes, I hate Altuve. I had $20 on the Dodgers in that series, and Altuve’s cheating g Astros cost me 20 Big Ones! (And by “Big Ones” I mean “Dollars”.). 🙂
You are mad about $20 from 6 years ago? You just placed the money on the wrong cheating team. LA was doing nothing different from Houston. And the crap Altuve hears is disgusting.
I could have bought nearly 2 packs of cigarettes for that $20. Your GDR I’m still mad! Who wouldn’t be?!
Go Astros!!!!!!!!!
Smokes and horse racing I bet. Saratoga is old school
Saratoga does a good job of keeping the sense that it’s half legal, half illegal. Lots of ways to get in trouble there, but also lots of high-end restaurants and hotels. You can get Vegas-level prostitutes during racing season (sadly, the other 10 months of the year you are stuck with Albany-level prostitutes).
Jjd – you confuse what integrity means.
You choose not to commit crimes, but you refuse to ‘rat’ out those guilty of same, and, condone it happening while you personally benefit. Is that integrity?
He watched it happen didnt he? Did he anonymously report it to stop it?
Refusing to throw the guilty under the bus isn’t ‘integrity’… you can claim he isn’t a snitch, you can claim you don’t think he partook himself, but, he did benefit nonetheless by increased ABs, men on base, rbis, pitches to hit, pitchers in stretch, pitchers lifted from games, tireness of pitchers, so on so forth.
But altuve deserves the hate.
Lol. You act like your team wasn’t doing the exact same thing Mr Sox fan. I hope you are a White Sox fan, not a Red Sox fan. He deserves none of the hate when it was league wide and he never used the scheme. To sit there and listen to stuff fans spew all the while knowing that their favorite team did the same thing takes a bigger man than most people. I mean it’s comical that someone like Bellinger acts like a tool after Fiers goes to the media and then falls off the face of the earth when the league finally enforces the ban.
According to the story, they don’t seem to have many good options at 2b. You can’t replace someone like Altuve.
It’s not a matter of instantly finding another future hofer, but rather a matter of depth. Houston has a deep lineup.
David Hensley will probably be the internal option if they don’t sign Profar. Hensley has been one of their better hitters this spring and was good last season in limited playing time at the end of the season.
Wasn’t Kyle Tucker a 2B in the minors?
Not even if pedophiles? Not on Vlad Putin or Kim Jong Un? Not on terrorists? You honestly don’t wish active terrorists to get injured? What a load of nonsense. Liar!
saratoga – I don’t wish Putin or Un to get injured. I wish they would meet Jesus and change their lives. Everyone is redeemable.
Riiiight. You are anti death penalty too. Sure. And you wish pedophiles would just “find Jesus.” Riiiight. Of course you wish harm on people. But you painted yourself into a corner saying you don’t wish harm on anyone, and your brain is trying to rearrange facts so you don’t take an ego hit admitting you were wrong.
saratoga – I can explain my Christian faith to you but I can’t understand it for you. You have to do that on your own.
Please explain it. I’d love to hear all about your Christian faith.
saratoga – I detect a bit of sarcasm. However, if you would like to hear about my faith, we certainly won’t discuss it here as this is not the forum for it. You are welcome to e-mail me at dh92808@gmail.com. Hope to hear from you.
Are you Catholic? Or just sort of vaguely “Christian”? I don’t trust “Christians” without knowing their actual religion. I’d love to know more about Catholicism, or maybe Eastern Orthodox, but if it is some new-wave, non-denominational “Christian” thing I’ll politely pass.
saratoga – Christianity isn’t “religion”, it’s faith and relationship with Christ based on the God’s word. If what someone tells you can’t be supported by God’s word, you should question it. Again, not the forum here so hope to hear from you. BTW I grew up Catholic so I can tell you all about it if that’s your interest.
I just assumed he was a Christian Yelich fan.
This is totally the forum for it. Break out of the mold. Be bold. Give everyone the benefit of your insight, even if they don’t want it. That is what our lord and saviour Jesus Christ did. You can be like him if you try.
saratoga – again, sarcasm noted. You have my e-mail if you wish to discuss it further.
As much as I value religious guidance from anonymous online strangers, I think I’ll politely pass.
saratoga – never said anything about giving you guidance. I offered to share my faith…nothing more. Cheers.
Did you just equate someone’s feelings about economic systems with forcefully taking someone’s life or committing atrocious acts with a minor? No matter what “red scare” you have heard, being a communist is not on the same level as murderers and rapists.
Not to you. I’m allowed my opinion that being a communist is every bit as bad as being a pedophile. And you can’t change my mind. Suck it!
The brainwashing you received in your government school has really worked, Saratoga. You actually equate commies with pedophiles. Wow.
Does my view is commies hurt anyone?
Yes it is true that you are allowed to have whatever stupid opinion you want. No matter how wrong it is. I have absolutely zero intention of trying to change your mind because you have proven to me that I shouldn’t care at all what you think about anything.
You are equating Jose Altuve’s cheating in baseball to Putin’s war crimes and terrorists killing people. I hope you get perspective one day, but I honestly don’t care one way or another.
You forgot he shy too
I just saw an interview with him & Tucker a couple of hours ago.
WTH?
I don’t mind the WBC, but spring training is warming up for the upcoming season. These guys enter into a full blown, give it your all WBC. Full intensity & enthusiasm.
Bad timing.
Yeah and the way he was holding his hand and arm this ain’t good for Houston!
Should be held after the WS
The teams control everything from how many pitches they throw in a game and their pitching schedule to how many at bats they are allowed in a game.
Wow a major league pitcher hitting another mlb player, that could happen during the regular season or playoffs…maybe we should cancel the season…
Guy got injured by a HBP, cancel the WBC!
I remember as a kid, Jeff Bagwell used to wear a little cushion/protector on his batting glove because he’d been hit on the hand a few times by pitches. I wonder why they’re not more popular? I don’t recall seeing many others ever wearing one. Are they uncomfortable? Are they banned or something? Would seem like a no-brainer to wear one unless they aren’t very effective or mess with your swing.
Not that they would have necessarily helped Altuve here, just something I thought of when seeing him get hit.
Pitchers don’t blatantly try to hit/brushback batters anymore bc MLB is quick now to drop the hammer. Sure, there has been a rise of runner oven mitts but hitters are much less risk-averse to HBPs. You would think otherwise with increased velo these days.
Some players do find protective gear uncomfortable. Jose Abreu never wear an elbow protector because he finds it uncomfortable. And he’s been hit on the elbow A LOT!
No- he no wear it cuz he shy
You make these comments cuz you dumb
He no make comment cuz he dum
You make these comments cuz you hammered
Pulling up the chair to see the people trash the WBC and others defend it.
I hope your chair has a hole in it for nature, because this will be a long debate
Curly – Not very different from the HR Derby debate.
You’re right, cut another hole in the chair…
Very different debate really. No one is facing pitchers that aren’t fully stretched out yet throwing 100 mph. They aren’t running bases, throwing, or playing defense. They’re just swinging.
“Trash” the WBC? Was that pun intentional?
I bet Altuve wished that pitch hit a metal garbage can instead of him. Don’t know why I thought of that.
My guess would be because you are stuck in a moment in 2017 that you can’t get out of. Someone call Bono.
Lol.
I wish it would have hit your head. Considering how big your head is I am surprised it didn’t.
Lol.
An MLB player hitting another MLB player… not understanding the “World” part of it when the first 24+ guys used with all MLB players playing each other
Because the best players in the world play in the MLB???
It sounds pretty nationalistic to say. There are plenty of talented players outside the US. Some actually want to see others playing for a change.
WBC would be more entertaining if every player of every country had to be an amateur defined as ineligible if they had any history of play for money beyond endorsement income or tuition scholarship income.
Just say you hate foreigners. I noticed that each and every player who played yesterday was from MLB. At that point, it’s just an all star game. Why not limit MLB guys to no more than half a foreign roster so that we see new guys playing?
Those guys are playing though.
The entire purpose of the WBC is to allow the world to see the best of the best play. That means professionals.
The main reason baseball is not an Olympic sport anymore is that MLB would not allow their players to participate in the Olympics during the season.
Watching high school players and college players get beat up by “amateurs” from Cuba and other countries is no fun and doesn’t promote the sport.
Alright, time to ban batters being pitched to. Potential for being hit is always there. Let’s just use a simulator and then make the decision then where the batter should go. Problem solved.
Damn! Just when I bought stock in a T-ball company.
Wow, something really good coming from the WBC.
You just mad his team owns your team?
Is it pure geography as to why Japan played a bunch of cupcakes to coast to final 4 while US/Mexico/Latin America very strong teams are knocking one another out?
Seems that way. At least that Pool had Japan. The other pool had nothing. USA gets Cuba at least in the Semifinal. Japan though was guaranteed to make the Semi.
the announcers just said that Houston thinks he broke his thumb
John Smoltz can’t stick four words together. He sounds drunk.
Did you know that pitcher also throw baseballs in Spring Training? True story. I hope nothing is broken. Speedy recovery.
LOLASTROS
More evidences suggests he didn’t cheat than he did cheat. Even if he did cheat, he posted the same OPS+ this past season as in 2017.
What cuz he shy?
Normalized stats like OPS+ are meaningless in that context unless you’re saying that the quality of hitting in mlb of 2022 vs 2017 was equal in terms of weighting how well guys hit for average, how well they hit for power, how those numbers trended in absolute terms via baseball composition itself, and other factors.
For example only, if my batting average as a player went down because I lost advance notice of pitches, but other players in baseball that hit for better average retired and new players struck out a ton more, the .ba portion of .ba + .slg + .bb would increase relative to the rest of the league, raising my ops+. Similarly, if I walked more than the k artists? Or if I was better at .ba AND .bb comparative to league average because new guys struck out more often, but my .slg went down because quality of contact dropped?
You can’t use a park neutral weighted metric like OPS+ to argue such a premise. It’s hard enough to argue when guys get moved in different spots of lineups, face different pitchers from year to year, have different protection in the lineup, so on so forth.
That’s not true. There’s overwhelming evidence that they all cheat.
Injuries happen. He could have just as easily broken his thumb picking his nose or trying to hitch a ride.
Or keeping his shirt on
If his hand or finger is not broken I will be very surprised.
It didn’t look too unintentional to me.
Karma police
See ya in October ese.
Did you cheat to pass your GED?
GED is free pass like citizenship.
Nothing wrong with a Good Enough Diploma.
If only he had someone banging on a thrash can to warn him.
A Metallica garbage can?
Detroit has a few guys that could help while he heals up. Schoop and the switch hitting Hernandez whose probably the better choice. Detroit’s looking pretty rough so the quicker they start using their younger guys the better. These exhibition games for the pro’s are not going well. Maybe Detroit can help the Astro’s and themselves out ? It would be nice, Detroit has problems.
shortwaveradiodotcom is reporting that listeners on the lower frequency could hear the ball hit his hand and Altuve yell in pain from his transmitting hidden mic
Now c’mon yankforever, is that the way you speak to your daddy?
Cheaters get heaters
Chumps get lumps.
These athletes cannot play in the Olympics, so this is their only chance to play for their country. I doubt the players will bargain this away this event.
I don’t think there is anything TO bargain away. Teams own the rights. Same reason you can’t go play in Australia in the mlb offseason. End of the day, if your mlb ball club doesn’t want you to play, you can’t without their permission. Some guys put the right to choose in their contracts
C’mon, you killjoys. He could’ve broken his thumb hitchhiking, or playing fingerstyle guitar, or throwing a frisbee forehanded!
You guys are all Nerds. The post is about an injury and all you can talk about is a World Series that ended 6 years ago (get the f over it) it’s done, it’s over, move on.
That being said… This should be the last WBC that’s ever played. Owners/managers need to protect their players/investments. If a player gets injured during spring training or during the regular season, at least it’s on their teams watch while actually playing for the team that’s paying them millions of dollars. I don’t care what you people say, Altuve is a great player (not many players like him in the League) and he just screwed up his season for the WBC (something that we’ll all forget about the second it ends)
If I own a an expensive sports car and a professional race car driver wants to borrow it, but tells me (I might crash it and there’s nothing I can do for you if that happens) I’m gonna tell him to F off.
A guy got hurt. It is what it is. That doesn’t mean you can cancel the World Baseball Classic forever. This has happened a very small number of times in the WBC.
Or do we just wrap these players in bubble wrap and sit them in recliners until day one of the regular season?
Bard back to his old ways. He’s toast. COL paid him too much. What a disaster of a team.
Can’t judge by one outing, but 2/19 for an old, inconsistent closer seemed like an overpay even at the time.
At least they didn’t throw away as much money as they did on Wade Davis.
I remember when Eric Clapton got a bad blister playing with Stevie Ray Vaughn. What was he thinking? Good lord.
The universe always pays us back for the wrong we do.
What wrong did he do?
So what did you do?
I hope his buzzer is ok.
Altoove-the Sally Field of beisbol: “you hate me. You really hate me!!”
There could be a positive side to this. If his thumb is indeed broken, it will give him time to recover everything else physically and he’ll be fresh for the last 2/3 of the season. David Hensley is a quality hitter and a chance for regular AB’s will be a great benefit for him.
No matter how you look at the WBC, it’s still a huge net positive for MLB and baseball as a whole and I don’t think it’s going anywhere. I think the MLB actually pressured some of their stars to participate this year.
I’m blaming the WBC on the death of Joe Pepitone!!
Why are so many messages by posters read like something a resentful and scornful ex-girlfriends would send? lolol All this means are his legs will be that much rested come October.
It’s sad. The narrative directed towards Altuve has led to this hatred of him. He deserves none of it. He’ll be out 2 months. The only thing this does is give someone else a chance to see if they have something hidden. As an Astros fan, I’m not worried in the least bit about 2 months. They are so much better than anyone else in their division missing Altuve for 2 months doesn’t matter at all.
Too many haters here.
4 of the 5 top players in MLB are playing without a problem, having fun and proudly representing their country. Trout, Otany, Betts, Soto.
The tournament is awesome
Have a life HATERS!!!!
It’s crazy how naive people are to other cultures and what the priorities might be for the people that are shaped by them. I understand it’s America’s game, financed by American money and generally supported by American people. That’s still not a reason to hold people captive to America’s sporting ideology. Outside of family, representing your country is the greatest achievement possible for many athletes around the world. There is no comparing it to driving an expensive car or whatever other analogy people want to come up with. Let it go. It will be all “me, me, me” in a week or two.
Enough of these injuries happen and eventually teams will keep their top players from playing in this exhibition tournament.
Enough Spring Training injuries happen. They should cancel that too. May as well cancel the Regular Season. Too risky. Lock all atheletes in a padded room. Put boxing gloves and bubble wrap on them.
Holding international players out of the WBC will have an impact on future free agent signings. FAFO.
By the way, I love the WBC. The most exciting baseball I’ve watched in six years!
West – I think for many reasons it would be better to have the WBC right after the WS, with all players invited to participate EXCEPT those playing in the WS.
Thoughts?
That would be unwieldy only because the season is already too long. Otherwise, an idea worth discussing…
And the World Baseball Circus rolls on
I don’t see this impacting the Astros WS chances much.
Altuve should be back for 2/3 of the season and most projections had the Astros with the best record in the AL. Even if the 2B replacement is terrible and Altuve misses half the season ( worse case scenarios) it should not cost them more than 2-3 wins and they should still make the playoffs
This is a big body shot to his HOF chances though. I think he needs 2+ more very good seasons to make it and losing 1/4-1/2 of a season as a 33 year old hurts his chances.
Agreed. That division is not super competitive. Astros are still the cream of the crop. I hate that franchise, but they are very good.
I watched a few WBC games and the players are visibly pumped up for them. They all played with focused intensity and passion. They obviously love this format. It’s unfortunate that guys get hurt but you can’t have a serious tournament without expecting a few injuries.
If MLB is at all serious about international expansion in the future, it needs to help promote WBC. The current MLB team owners would reap 100s of millions apiece selling franchises to Mexico City or Tokyo. The Players Union gets to add 100s of new members too. This is good for the business of baseball in the long run.
I’m wondering at what point they will put non WBC participation clauses in these big contracts.