Why Is Jose Altuve No Longer Hitting Leadoff for Houston Astros?

Jose Altuve is no longer hitting leadoff for the Houston Astros.

Apr 26, 2025; Kansas City, Missouri, USA; Houston Astros Jose Altuve (27) at bat in the first inning against the Kansas City Royals at Kauffman Stadium / Peter Aiken-Imagn Images

For the first time in almost two years, Houston Astros fans noticed something different about the lineup on Monday during their series opener against the Detroit Tigers.

Jose Altuve wasn't hitting leadoff.

Per Chandler Rome of The Athletic, it's been since June 17, 2023 that Altuve hasn't been the leadoff hitter for the Astros when he's been healthy and in the starting lineup.

Instead, Jeremy Pena -- who's had a really good start to the year -- was inserted into that role.

This wasn't because manager Joe Espada felt the franchise legend wasn't capable of handling those duties any longer and wanted to give a younger player a chance.

It was because Altuve asked for this to happen.

"Altuve also acknowledged a need for more time to catch his breath after running into the dugout from left field — a position he just started playing this season," the insider reported.

Entering Monday's game, the slugger was 6-for-36 in the last three series Houston played, recording just one extra-base hit, no homers and just two RBI while striking out eight times.

A little adjustment to the batting order was needed outside of Altuve wanting a bit more time to catch his breath since this has been one of the worst offenses in Major League Baseball during the early going.

Perhaps this shift was all it took for the Astros.

They scored eight runs against one of the best pitching staffs in the sport, their third-highest in a single game this year that might have been the most impressive when considering they faced a surging Jack Flaherty.

Altuve looked like the old version of himself, too.

He went 2-for-4 on the night with a towering two-run, 396-foot homer to left center field.

It should be no surprise that Espada isn't messing with things on Tuesday.

For the second consecutive day, Altuve is batting second.

While it's been a while since the star slugger has batted anywhere but the leadoff spot, hitting behind someone isn't foreign territory for him.

"Maybe hitting with him on base or whoever on base will help me get to the point I want to. I've hit second before. When Springer was here, I hit second for a lot of years," Altuve said, per Rome.

How long the lineup stays this way will likely be determined by the performance.

Houston was searching for a way to get some offensive juice back into their bats after they started the year in a pedestrian manner. So if all it takes is having Pena hit first and Altuve second, then the sky could be the limit for this team going forward.

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