Houston Astros infielder Jose Altuve is one of the best players of his generation.
He has been an ever-present figure in the Astros’ run of dominance in the American League, from 2017 to 2022.
To be fair, he was already a star even before then.
He has won batting titles, Silver Sluggers, and even the 2017 AL MVP, not to mention two World Series with Houston.
The list of achievements doesn’t end there, though.
On Friday, Altuve swiped his third base of the week and seventh of the season.
That base also had some historical meaning: it was the 300th of his career, and the league congratulated him for his new accomplishment.
Congratulations to Jose Altuve on his 300th career stolen base 👏 pic.twitter.com/fP10M3SidT
— MLB (@MLB) May 4, 2024
Stealing 300 bases is not for everyone: it not only requires speed and agility, but also longevity and consistency.
Altuve has shown all those traits and more over the course of his brilliant career.
There he is, about to turn 34, and still showing his wheels and helping his team.
He has combined that speed with incredible bat-to-ball skills (.308 career batting average) and power (216 home runs over his MLB tenure).
He still has a long way to get there, but he could eventually become the ninth member of the 300-300 club: players with at least 300 dingers and 300 thefts.
So far, only Barry Bonds, Alex Rodriguez, Steve Finley, Reggie Sanders, Willie Mays, Andre Dawson, Carlos Beltran, and Bobby Bonds are members of that club.
For now, Altuve is firmly in the 200-300 club, together with other 23 players.
He is better than ever in 2024, hitting a cool .348/.411/.576 with seven homers, seven steals, and a .987 OPS.
It looks like he is still in his prime.
