Jose Altuve is not the player he once was. He was an AL MVP contender during his prime years, but that’s no longer the case. Does that make him a valuable option in most fantasy formats?
Altuve didn’t have his best season in 2025, although the decrease in numbers probably happened because he was forced to play out of position. Altuve was the Astros’ Opening Day left fielder last season, but the experiment didn’t pan out, and by the second half of the season, he was moved back to second base while also seeing time at DH. As if that wasn’t enough, Altuve also finished the year dealing with a nagging foot injury that clearly had an impact on his swing mechanics.
That won’t be the case in 2026, though. Altuve is reportedly 100% healthy entering the spring and will also focus almost exclusively on playing second base. He’s going to return to the role of being the Astros’ everyday second baseman after hitting .265 in 2025. That mark was the lowest of his career, if excluding the 2020 shortened season. Will he be able to bounce back in 2026?
What to Expect from Jose Altuve in 2026 Fantasy Baseball
Altuve’s return to health and positional stability should translate to a spike in his numbers. However, don’t expect the Venezuela native to hover around the .300 mark in terms of batting average. Altuve is 35 and will turn 36 in early May, so there’s a chance Father Time is beginning to catch up to him. However, Altuve could hover around the .275 to .280 mark with around 15–20 homers. He went yard 26 times in 2025 and has hit at least 20 bombs in three of his last four seasons.
Unfortunately, defensive metrics don’t play a major role in fantasy, so there aren’t many areas in which Altuve will be able to stand out in the 2026 season. He only stole 10 bases and had a 62.5% success rate, so his days of being a perennial 20-20 threat might be gone. He’s not going to get any faster on the wrong side of his 30s.
An uptick in his average is expected, as he’s simply too good to hit around the .260 mark, but he’s not expected to deliver a bounce-back performance in other categories where he used to thrive. Altuve should have eligibility as an outfielder, and that boosts his appeal as a multi-positional option who should find a way to hit for average with some power.
Altuve is not one of the best infielders in the game anymore, but that doesn’t mean he won’t be serviceable in fantasy. He profiles as a player worth targeting in mid-to-late rounds, solely based on this comeback potential and the fact that his body of work is just too good to ignore based on one subpar season.
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