Jose Altuve has made a career out of defying expectations, and in 2025, he took on one of the toughest challenges of his MLB tenure-learning a brand-new position at 35 years old. The longtime second baseman was asked to patrol left field for the first time in his career, and while the experiment was admirable in effort, the results were mixed at best.

Altuve split his time across three roles last season: 66 games at second base, 49 as the designated hitter, and 47 in left field. The numbers tell the story in the outfield-he posted a -10 Defensive Runs Saved, a clear indicator that the transition didn’t quite stick.

It’s not easy for any player, let alone a veteran with over a decade of infield instincts, to adjust to the reads, routes, and reaction times required in the outfield. The Astros asked a lot of Altuve, and while he gave it everything he had, the glove just wasn’t there in left.

The good news for Houston? Altuve is expected to return to his natural home at second base in 2026. That’s a move that should bring some stability back to the defensive side of the infield and allow the former MVP to focus on what he does best-hit.

But as the 2026 season approaches, there are some legitimate questions about what kind of offensive production Altuve can bring to the table. He’ll turn 36 early in the year, and while he’s still a key piece of the Astros’ lineup, age and underlying metrics suggest some caution is warranted.

According to Bleacher Report’s Joel Reuter, Altuve could be a candidate for a “cliff season”-the kind of year where a player’s decline becomes more noticeable and harder to ignore. Reuter points to a few red flags: Altuve ranked near the bottom of the league in average exit velocity, hard-hit rate, and bat speed last season. Those are key indicators of a hitter’s ability to drive the ball, and when they start to dip, it can be a warning sign that the bat is slowing down.

Still, it’s not all doom and gloom. Despite those concerning metrics, Altuve managed to crank out 26 home runs in 2025-the third-highest total of his career.

That’s not the kind of power you see from a player who’s completely lost his swing. In fact, it suggests he still has the ability to do damage when he connects.

There’s also the matter of his BABIP (batting average on balls in play), which came in 40 points below his career average. That kind of gap often points to a bit of bad luck-hard-hit balls finding gloves, line drives dying at the warning track, or grounders just missing holes in the defense. In other words, the stat sheet might not fully reflect the quality of his at-bats.

So where does that leave us heading into 2026? Altuve remains one of the most respected veterans in the game, a clubhouse leader with a championship pedigree. His return to second base should help both him and the Astros defensively, and while his age and batted-ball data suggest a potential step back, his raw production last year shows he’s still capable of contributing in a big way.

This season could go either way. Maybe the metrics catch up to him and the power fades.

Or maybe, like he’s done so many times before, Altuve proves the doubters wrong and delivers another strong campaign. Either way, all eyes will be on the veteran as he steps back into his familiar spot in the infield, looking to turn the page on a challenging 2025 and write another chapter in what’s already been a remarkable career.