Houston Astros Skipper Showers New Left Fielder With Glowing Praise

Joe Espada made sure to give the Houston Astros legend praise even amidst some growing pains.

Feb 14, 2025; West Palm Beach, FL, USA; Houston Astros manager Joe Espada (19) looks on during a spring training workout at CACTI Park of the Palm Beaches | Sam Navarro-Imagn Images

The Houston Astros are going to do something that nobody saw coming at the beginning of the offseason; move their franchise icon Jose Altuve to left field.

At 34 years old, it's a risk.

His defense has begun to decline at second base in recent seasons, something that has been attributed in part to his decreasing range. So the notion of putting the 14-year veteran with almost 2,000 Major League games worth of mileage on his legs into the outfield was met with some skepticism.

But the Astros have stuck with the idea, giving him countless reps in camp before they trotted him out there in game settings this spring.

It hasn't been all rosy.

There is a still work to do if Altuve is going to be a net positive in his new position instead of a defensive liability, but it's also safe to say Houston has been impressed by what they have seen so far.

On Altuve in left, Espada said: "[He's done] enough for me to feel good about playing left field."

— Brian McTaggart (@brianmctaggart) March 13, 2025

Manager Joe Espada didn't stop there.

He made sure to give the franchise legend a shoutout after he overcame a first inning blunder that resulted in Ivan Herrera of the St. Louis Cardinals getting a triple out of what would normally have been a routine play for an experienced outfielder.

"He [told] me after that, 'I'm going to stay out there for nine innings.' That's the effort I want, that's the leadership that we're looking for and that's Jose Altuve for you in a nutshell," the skipper said, per Brian McTaggart of MLB.com.

Espada has a point.

Altuve didn't have to make this change.

If he would have played out his career at second base, not only would he have been the best player at that position in franchise history, but there's a good chance he would have been considered that across all of Major League Baseball.

Altuve wants to win, and moving into left field gives the Astros a better chance of accomplishing that.

There will still be growing pains as he gets more familiar with playing in the outfield, but the fact he was even willing to go through it at this stage of his career says a lot about him.