MLB

Jose Altuve's 3-Homer Game Further Proves His MVP Worthiness

John Stolnis  —  @johnstolnis Oct 6th, 2017
Altuve's postseason heroics won't help his MVP cause, but it's more confirmation he's one of the game's great players.

Boston Red Sox ace Chris Sale stands 6'6".

Houston Astros second baseman Jose Altuve is 5'6", a full foot shorter than Sale.

Yet after Game 1 of the American League Division Series between the 'Stros and Sox, it was Altuve who towered over the lanky left-handed hurler.

Altuve hit three home runs in the Astros' series-opening 8-2 win, two of them off this year's MLB strikeout king. In doing so, Altuve became just the ninth player in Major League history to go deep three times in a single postseason game.


It's also important to note that, in the entire history of the game, very few players who are Altuve's size have gone deep three times in any Major League game, regular or post-season.


Altuve's 12 total bases tied for sixth-most in MLB postseason history with three players (Pablo Sandoval, Hideki Matsui, and Adam Kennedy) having 13 and two (Albert Pujols and Bob Robertson) having 14.


ESPN Stats & Info noted Altuve is the first second baseman since Chase Utley in Game 3 of the 2009 World Series to have a multi-homer game. Utley tied Reggie Jackson's World Series record of five dingers in the fall classic that year, and given the number of bombs being hit so far in the playoffs, that record seems certain to fall.

Altuve came into this year's playoffs looking to rebound from a dismal 2015 playoff run in which he went 4-for-26 with one walk and no extra base hits, but in his career against Sale was 8-for-21 (.381) with a homer. Suffice it to say, 2017 is going a lot better than 2015 did.

He and Aaron Judge finished the regular season locked in what seemed to be a two-person race for the AL MVP award, and although postseason numbers don't count towards the MVP vote, Altuve certainly earned a lot of supporters after the fact with his performance in Game 1. His 204 hits led the American League this season, and he bested Judge in Baseball Reference's version of WAR (8.3 to 8.1) but trailed him in FanGraphs' version (8.2 to 7.5). It will likely be a neck-and-neck vote.

Over the last four seasons, Altuve has essentially become Tony Gwynn, just with a bit more power. His .334 batting average since 2014 leads all of baseball by a wide margin (Michael Brantley and Joey Votto are tied for 2nd at .312), his 23.9 fWAR is 3rd (behind Josh Donaldson's 28.0 and Mike Trout's 32.9), and he has accumulated more than 200 hits in each of the last four seasons, the only player in MLB to do so. He's maintained a high batting average while seeing his homer total increase from 7 in '14, 15 in 2015, and 24 in each of the last two seasons.

Altuve's greatness was no secret before yesterday. His three-homer performance only cemented his status as one of the game's best pure hitters and most dynamic superstars.

October is the time for baseball's best players to shine, and Jose Altuve is looking pretty glossy right about now.