Houston Astros: What to make of Jose Altuve’s power surge?

The Houston Astros’ Jose Altuve has been one of the top players at his position for a couple years now, but has he become one of the best overall talents in the game because of his spike in power this season?

While the Houston Astros have not gotten off to the strong start that they thought they might have coming off a surprisingly successful 2015 season, it has not stopped Jose Altuve from putting up spectacular numbers to start the year.

Even though the Astros second baseman is only 26 years old, it seems like he has been a staple as a premier player at his position for many years now. However, as he gets older, stronger and more experienced, Altuve may not just be the best second baseman in the game, but one of the top players in the league in general.

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Altuve has always been a solid hitter since his debut with Houston in 2011. Besides his rookie year, the three-time All-Star has finished with a batting average of at least .290 in every season since 2012. His season-high batting average came two years ago, when he hit for a .341 average coupled with an on-base percentage of a .337. Altuve has gotten off to a similarly strong start in 2016, currently holding a batting average of .319, which ranks 19th in MLB and second among second baseman.

While Altuve has been great at the plate so far in his career, the most dangerous part of his game could be the speed that he brings combined with his strong on-base capabilities. Over the course of his six-year career, he has stolen a total of 179 bases. Altuve has ranked in the top-15 in the majors in stolen bases for the past four seasons, including in 2014 when he stole 56 bags on the year, which ranked second in the majors behind only Dee Gordon. Altuve could be on pace for that number again this year, as he has already collected a major league leading 10 stolen bases in just 30 games.

But what has separated this year’s Jose Altuve from the player he has been in past seasons are the power numbers that he is putting up. Previously, Altuve had a season-high home run total of 15, which he hit last season. In the years prior, he had never hit more than seven long balls in a season.

However, 2016 seems like an entirely different story for the Astros second baseman. So far, Altuve has nine bombs on the year and it doesn’t seem like he is going to be slowing down anytime soon. Standing at just 5 feet, 6 inches and only 165 pounds, not many people see Altuve as being capable of maintaining this type of power output. But it seems that this season, Altuve is obviously stronger and may be playing for the long ball more when he gets into the batter’s box.

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Altuve has a quick compact swing that should have always been yielding itself to more home runs than he had been producing. However, it never looked like there was much untapped power potential because of his stature and the way he approached hitting the ball. But perhaps we should have all seen this coming. For many hitters, power comes later in their careers for a variety of reasons. First and foremost, when players reach their mid-20s, their bodies hit their physical peak, which obviously lends itself to becoming stronger. This is why many baseball people say that the number of doubles that a player hits could translate into home runs as they get older and have more games under their belt.

A perfect example of this is Manny Machado. In 2014, the Orioles third baseman finished with 51 doubles, which was second in the majors. Two years later, he broke out with 35 bombs, shattering his previous season-high of 14 jacks. Altuve hit 47 and 40 doubles in 2014 and 2015, respectively, both ranking in the top-10 in MLB. These doubles are now starting to go over the wall for the 26-year-old, which is making him a much more potent hitter than ever before.

So where does Altuve now rank as one of the most valuable players in in the game? With this home run surge, not many players have the power and speed combo that he has, in addition to how he maintains a high batting average coupled with low strikeout numbers. There does not seem to be a weakness in his game at this point, now that he is figuring out how to hit the ball out of the park.

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At this point, Altuve would certainly be a strong pick to be the AL MVP considering the value that he brings both at the plate and on the base paths. There aren’t many players that you would choose to have over Altuve right now and if he keeps up his home run numbers throughout the season, he could be a top five offensive player in all of baseball.

What do you make of Jose Altuve’s increased power numbers? Let us know in the comments below.