2025 Fantasy Baseball: Jose Altuve Profile, Preview, Predictions
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Future Hall of Famer Jose Altuve can't match the big bats in the majors in bat speed or exit velocity, but he does find a way to put his share of balls in the seats. Is 2025 the year to get the bus? His higher price point will keep me away.
Jose Altuve launches the 40th leadoff home run of this career! 💪
— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) August 24, 2024
(via @MLB)pic.twitter.com/n8qU6CSYZG
2B – Jose Altuve, HOU (ADP – 63.3)
After 14 years with the Astros, Altuve needs 768 hits to reach 3,000 for his career.
He finished last season with his highest at-bat total (628) since 2016, leading to a productive five-category season. After not running from 2019 to 2021 (13 steals), Altuve has 54 stolen bases over the past three years, two of which were helped by the MLB rule changes for steals. His best output came against lefties (.370/31/4/16/6 over 154 at-bats). After the All-Star break, he only had six home runs and 21 RBIs over 242 at-bats).
His strikeout rate (17.5) is trending higher while continuing to beat the league average. Altuve lost momentum in his walk rate (6.9 – 10.8 over the previous two seasons). He hit more line drives (24.6% - 19.0 in 2023 and 21.6% in his career) last season, resulting in fewer infield flies (7.8%) and a weaker HR/FB rate (12.0 – 18.3%). Based on his sliding average hit rate (1.492) plus poor ranking (185th) in exit velocity (86.5 mph) and hard-hit rate (31.2), Altuve may struggle to hit 15 home runs this season.
Fantasy Outlook: On the surface, Altuve’s 20/20 season with an edge in batting average will look attractive to some drafters in 2025. He doesn’t hit the ball hard often while needing to take advantage of mistakes in the strike zone to pad his home run total. I could also see regression in his stolen base opportunity. Let’s go with a 15/15 skill set this year with some help in runs and batting average. Altuve is in my fade column.
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With 20+ years of experience in the high-stakes fantasy market, I aim to research and compete at the highest level in baseball and football each season. I've contributed as a writer/analyst for Sports Draft Daily, ScoutPro, Scout Fantasy, Fulltime Fantasy, FFToolbox, and Sports Illustrated Fantasy. I'm honored to be in the National Fantasy Baseball Championship Hall of Fame. My drafting philosophy is risk-averse yet open to betting on potential game-changers. I approach player selection with a neutral perspective, acknowledging that fantasy sports are inherently unpredictable due to injuries, performance dips, and managerial decisions. My work focuses on these main areas: - Season-long fantasy baseball and football - BestBall Baseball and Football Events - Daily Fantasy Sports (DFS): DraftKings, FanDuel, and Underdog - Long Shot Player Prop Parlays for NFL I participate in various leagues and contests, including NFBC, NFFC, RTSports, FFPC, DraftKings, Underdog Fantasy, FanDuel, and FFWC, with the goal of leveraging my extensive experience and research for success in each game format. A fantasy follower can expect in-depth profiles of NFL and MLB players, along with season-long and weekly projections for each fantasy football season. In addition, I have many strategy articles to help develop fantasy players' learning curves.
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