Astros winces as he’s hit in the hand by a pitched ball Saturday evening in the Planet Baseball Classic. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)Copyright 2023 The Connected Press. All rights reserved

Even the Planet Champion Houston Astros are not immune from the injury wave rampaging by means of the ranks of players who skipped spring coaching for the Planet Baseball Classic.

Star second baseman José Altuve is the most current to endure a critical injury in the course of the previous week, joining Edwin Diaz of the New York Mets and Freddie Freeman of the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Altuve, playing for Venezuela, suffered a broken hand when hit by a pitch Saturday evening and will be out indefinitely.

Diaz will miss the season soon after hurting his knee whilst celebrating a win in the WBC, whilst Freeman took himself out of the tournament soon after injuring his hamstring whilst playing for Canada. He’s hoping to be prepared by Opening Day March 30.

As a outcome of these and lesser mishaps, the timing of the 20-group tournament is beneath fire since it requires players away from their teams in the course of spring coaching. Even although it is played after just about every 3 years (with time out in 2020 since of COVID-19), critics have recommended it be played in November, when important-league teams are attempting to sell tickets for the following season.

The WBC, final played in 2017, runs from March eight-21 and is played in different ballparks prior to the championship game at Miami’s LoanDepot Park. Players are paid to participate and insured against injury.

The Altuve injury is a critical blow to the Astros, who are not only searching for to retain their Planet Series crown but also to attain the American League Championship Series for the seventh straight season. No group has won consecutive planet championships given that the New York Yankees took 3 straight in 1998, 1999, and 2000.

Altuve will require surgery to repair the hand, according to Astros basic manager Dana Brown, and could be out for months.

The small leadoff man, the shortest man in the majors at 5’6″ tall, is a 3-time American League batting champion who after led the league in hits 4 years in a row. He has spent his whole profession with the Astros, who gave him a seven-year, $163.five million contract excellent by means of the 2024 season.

Because breaking into the large leagues in 2011, Altuve has been a sturdy player, missing time only in 2014, when he had a hamstring injury.

The pint-sized slugger has twice hit 31 dwelling runs in the course of the normal season but is even much more deadly in the post-season, with 23 dwelling runs in 79 games.

Altuve has a profession batting typical of .307, along with an on-base percentage of .362 and OPS (on-base plus slugging) of .830.

A two-time league leader in stolen bases, he has scored at least one hundred runs in a season 3 instances. Final year, he hit .300 with 28 dwelling runs and 18 stolen bases. He is also a sturdy defender at second base.

Altuve’s resume appears like it belongs to a future Hall of Famer. An eight-time All-Star, he has also been American League Most Beneficial Player, AL Championship Series MVP, a two-time planet champion, and the winner of a Gold Glove Award. He has won six Silver Sluggers as the greatest hitter at his position.

Altuve, who turns 33 in Could, is displaying no indicators of slowing down.

Replacing him will not be straightforward. Candidates variety from David Hensley, Rylan Bannon, and Mauricio Dubon on the 40-man Houston varsity to non-roster player Dixon Machado. The versatile Dubon has the most encounter of that group.

Brown could also scour what’s left of the free of charge agent marketplace, which nevertheless consists of 4-time Gold Glove shortstop Andrelton Simmons, or swing a trade with yet another club.

Targets could contain Gleyber Torres or Isaih Kiner-Kalefa, who played second and brief for the Yankees final year but are getting pushed by rookies Anthony Volpe and Oswald Peraza.

Houston’s 2023 roster will absolutely appear distinct from the one particular that won the Planet Series from Philadelphia final fall.

Gone are such essential contributors as pitcher Justin Verlander, who jumped to the Mets by way of free of charge agency soon after winning the American League’s Cy Young Award catcher Christian Vasquez, now with Minnesota initial baseman Yuli Gurriel, who signed with Miami and outfielder Trey Mancini, who joined the Chicago Cubs.

Even with no Altuve, the Astros nevertheless have a sturdy attack, led by Alex Bregman, Yordan Alvarez, Kyle Tucker, and newly-signed José Abreu. Mainly because of the injuries and free of charge agent defections, on the other hand, the group may well have a hard time approaching its 106-56 record of final season.

Comply with me on Twitter. 

I am a former Connected Press sportswriter whose journalism profession started in 1969 soon after graduating from Syracuse University with B.A. degrees in newspaper journalism and political science. My 38 books contain ghostwritten autobiographies of Ron Blomberg, Milo Hamilton, and Al Clark plus The New Baseball Bible, a 424-web page offbeat illustrated history published in 2017. My byline has appeared in The Sporting News, Baseball Digest, USA These days Sports Weekly, and the official All-Star and Planet Series applications. I received 5 initial-spot prizes from the Garden State Journalists Association at its annual dinner on Could 23, 2018.

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