Has an elite contact tool... and is now seeing pitches better than ever enough to either lay off of them, or attempt to drive them far. I'd say he's more like what Ichiro would have been had he spent his entire baseball career in the big leagues... with more power (or rumor is, Ichiro could launch them if he really tried.... but was always more focused on simply getting on base any way possible).
Wasn't a rumor. Ichiro had power. His batting practices were shows. He chose to be a contact hitter in games.
I know about his BP shows. Then again, some players can hit them out with ease in BP...not so much the case in real game situations. That's why I said it was a rumor... Sometimes hitting HR's is not as simple as deciding to do it... But he certainly had the strength to do so (but it likely would have led to more strikeouts, lower OBP, lower averages, lower SB's, etc.).
I said it over in the Altuve walks thread. His balance between patience and aggression is perfect right now. He isn't swinging at the first decent pitch he sees, but he isn't simply watching good pitches either. He isn't gonna keep up this wild pace, but if he can maintain this batting eye he's gonna be a monster, even more so than he was already. And he hit 15 HR last year, so it isn't as if hasn't shown some pop already.
I'd like o think natural progression as a hitter... it is possible. If he's cheating, I hope he never gets caught.
Jose Altuve is 26 years old today. Through age 25 #Reds Pete Rose 725 hits & .294/.349/.405 #Astros Jose Altuve 868 hits & .306/.346/.426
I know. Is it possible that Tuve ends his career with better numbers than Biggio and Bags? Who would've thought... I do think Altuve will age well, too. Like, okay make he's not swiping 40 bags when he's 35, but I don't see him losing his contact tool, and maybe he could still swipe 15-20 bags by then. Who knows.
Do you think Tuve could hit 30 HR this year? If yes imagine those numbers. .310 avg 30 HR 110 R 75 RBI 45 SB Hopefully the team starts winning so he has a shot at MVP.
Jeter was at 807 through age 25. Also worth noting that Altuve got started 1 year earlier than Rose, just like Jeter. Nobody is going to catch Rose. He was given like 2400 more plate appearances after he was no longer a good player anymore. Jeter basically had one year in decline and called it quits. With the money players make today, it's hard to imagine a guy playing through 4-5 years of being a bad player AND being given that opportunity by a team.
Hate to be the #onpace guy...but I can't help myself given Jose's start. Behold: <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Extrapolated over 162 games, Altuve is on pace for 50 homers, 150 runs, 106 RBI, and 55 stolen bases. And the Astros are still 10-19.</p>— Dennis Beaudo (@Bodowned) <a href="https://twitter.com/Bodowned/status/728580045577424900">May 6, 2016</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
People also forget that he came up to the big leagues as a starter, at a very young age. He was essentially still developing while playing 150 games in the big leagues. He is still is only 25.
Ichiro had power, far more than people realize. Same with Wade Boggs. Both adjusted their swing to hit line drives and not hit the ball in the air.
