Did he? The vast majority of first basemen are called the best in the business at digging balls out of the dirt (i.e., there usually isn't much difference between most 1B at scooping the ball out of the dirt.) The big difference is how far can a 1B play off the bag against RHBs and still get back in time to make a catch as this increases the amount of plays a 1B can make on grounders to the right side of the IF. 2021 was by far the year that Yuli made the most plays defensively at 1B.
They watched him play 1B prior to 2019, and haven't adjusted their opinion. Yuli has gotten better with age, which is very rare especially for his age, but he's also got a different background than most MLB players.
So how many national sportswriters are on our **** list? Sadly these folks will vote against Altuve for HOF...