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The Houston Astros have an exciting lineup with the young players they have called up. Despite being at the bottom of the AL West, there are a lot of valuable players for fantasy in the Astros lineup. While owners are pining for George Springer or Jon Singleton, there is one player that fantasy owners want to target. His name is Jose Altuve.
Altuve provides huge numbers in two categories, batting average and steals. He has 36 steals on the season, already passing his 2013 total of 35. At this pace, he could finish with close to 70 steals by season’s end. He is also hitting .347 and his second among all qualified hitters.
Altuve went on a tear over the last few games. He has 11 hits and eight stolen bases with a .611 average in his last four games. He is the first player since 1917 to have multiple steals in four straight games. He is also the first player since 1914 to have two hits and two steals in four straight.
As a result, he is the No. 1 player, not just hitter, on ESPN’s Player Rater. He is more valuable than fellow second baseman Dee Gordon, who doesn’t have an average even close to Altuve despite having more steals. Altuve is also ahead of dominant pitchers like Johnny Cueto and Felix Hernandez.
Altuve doesn’t provide a lot of power, but with his high on-base percentage, he is a stealing machine. He has 10 swipes in his last six games. While he’s currently owned in 100 percent of ESPN.com leagues, there should be an owner or two who is willing to trade Altuve for a power hitter.
Bill Pivetz is a fantasy sports writer for Rant Sports. Follow him on Twitter @BPiv_Sports.
