Houston Astros Star Takes Shot at Rangers' Second Baseman Before ALCS

The Houston Astros begin the ALCS against the Texas Rangers on Sunday. Before the highly anticipated matchup, one of their players took a shot at the Rangers' second baseman.

On Sunday, the highly anticipated ALCS matchup between the Houston Astros and Texas Rangers gets underway.

It's the first time these two teams have played against each other in the postseason and this matchup will decide which city in Texas the World Series will be played.

Before the ALCS got started, Astros star catcher Martin Maldonado seemingly took a shot at the Rangers' second baseman when praising Jose Altuve.

"You cannot compare him to Marcus Semien. They’re two different hitters. Altuve is an MVP. I’d take Altuve all day," he said to reporters.

Whether Maldonado meant this statement as a slight to Semien or not is unknown, but after the Atlanta Braves made headlines for poking fun at Bryce Harper, this might not have been the best time to say this.

Texas' second baseman is coming out of a great regular season when he hit .276/.348/.478 with 29 home runs and 100 RBI. He also led the American League in hits (185) and runs (122).

Altuve battled some injuries during the year and was only able to play 90 games.

Still, he finished with a slash line of .311/.393/.522, 17 homers and 51 RBI.

But it's the postseason when Altuve takes his game to the next level.

Houston's second baseman has the second most home runs (24), third most runs scored (80), fourth most hits (107) and eighth most RBI (50) in MLB Playoffs history.

Considering how many great players have played this game, it's remarkable to see Altuve's name so high up on these offensive lists.

Semien has also been a good postseason performer in his limited experiences.

His career numbers are .293/.369/.448 with two home runs and six RBI in 14 games.

That hasn't been the case so far this year, but maybe Maldonado's comments get him going before the ALCS matchup.