6 years agoAstros second baseman Jose Altuve put up a solid .316/.386/.451 slash line in 2018, but as a consensus top-three pick last year it’s hard to be fully satisfied with those numbers. His batting average and on-base percentage were both three-year lows, and his slugging percentage was his lowest since 2013. The lack of power can be attributed to a normalization of his HR/FB ratio, which fell 5% from 2017 to 2018. Altuve had an inflated 13.8% HR/FB ratio between 2016-2017, which allowed him to hit 48 home runs in 1379 plate appearances over two years. Outside of those two years, he hit 49 home runs in 3531 plate appearances. While he probably won’t return to the single-digit home run totals of his early career, Altuve is no guarantee for power in 2019. Altuve also stole fewer than 30 bases for the first time since 2011, which can perhaps be attributed to the knee soreness he dealt with all season. He spent three weeks on the disabled list last season, the first DL trip of his career. He also had surgery on the knee after the season ended, and while he’s expected to be ready for opening day, this injury could certainly affect his ability to run. Jose Altuve might be the safest source of batting average in the game, but the emergence of Javier Baez means that he is no longer the undisputed number one second baseman in fantasy baseball. Between that and concerns over his power and speed, Altuve should be pushed out of the overall top-10 picks.--Elliott Baas - RotoBaller