Jose Altuve is officially in his left field era. The long-time second baseman started in left field for the Houston Astros for the first time this past Friday, and did so again on Sunday afternoon. While he didn’t see any action in the outfield on Friday, he did make a nice grab going back on a ball hit to the warning track on Sunday.
Interestingly, Altuve noted on Sunday afternoon that he’s still waiting for his new outfield glove to arrive. He told Cliff Floyd of MLB Network that his glove isn’t ready, as he’s still waiting for it to be properly worked in before using it in game action. So what’s he using?
“Actually, this is my good friend Marwin Gonzalez’s glove”, Altuve said. “Mine’s not ready yet, so I called him and said you’ve got to drive here. He wanted me to go pick it up and I said no, no, you’re coming here”. Gonzalez and Altuve were teammates in Houston for seven years, and it’s well known that the two have a good relationship. And if that quote from Altuve isn’t absolutely perfect, nothing is.
New Astros left fielder Jose Altuve snags a new glove from an old friend
The borrowed glove came in clutch in the aforementioned catch during Sunday’s matchup. Altuve had to range all the way back to the wall before making an over-the-shoulder grab to rob Washington Nationals’ catcher Keibert Ruiz of a likely double.
It’s not clear when Altuve will expect to see his own glove appear in the locker room but it’ll likely take more than leather for the 34-year-old to truly get comfortable out there. After spending the first 14 years of his major league career at second base, Altuve and the Astros decided to make the move to create some theoretical space to keep both Alex Bregman and Isaac Paredes on the infield dirt, and to make up for the loss of Kyle Tucker in the outfield.
“We all agreed that it would be a good idea and would give the team more flexibility… I like it.”@astros legend Jose Altuve details his move to left field, how lonely it is out there, and using Marwin Gonzalez’s glove in the meantime 😅#MLBTonight | @CliffFloyd30 pic.twitter.com/BOeK5akh9g
— MLB Network (@MLBNetwork) March 2, 2025
While the Astros will have plenty of options to rotate through the keystone in 2025, they might have to be patient with Altuve during the transition. Most of the advanced defensive metrics have Altuve as a mid-tier defender at second. FanGraphs’ Defensive Runs Saved has him at -82 for his career, a number exacerbated by three consecutive down years in his early 30’s. Statcast’s Outs Above Average likes him a bit more than DRS does, but still acknowledges him as below-average, and Altuve certainly isn’t getting any younger or more agile.
If the Altuve in left field experiment is going to work, it’s going to take a lot of effort on his part. There might be some rough spots in the early going but given enough time, Altuve will hopefully be able to make it happen. And who knows, maybe Gonzalez’s glove proves a bit lucky and can give Altuve a bit of a boost out there.