January 26, 2026

Houston Astros second baseman Jose Altuve won't participate in the World Baseball Classic, according to Brian McTaggart of MLB.com. Altuve said on Saturday that he would like to play for Venezuela, but McTaggart reports that the Astros would prefer for him to remain with the club throughout spring training, and he plans to honor that request. The former MVP would have played second base and hit third in the lineup if he had participated in the WBC, according to Venezuela manager Omar Lopez, who is also Houston's bench coach. A team asking its player to skip the WBC is rare but not completely unheard of, and it's largely precautionary in an effort to avoid injury ahead of a long MLB regular season. During his last WBC appearance in 2023, Altuve suffered a fractured right thumb after being hit by a pitch. The injury required surgery, and he missed the first 43 games of the regular season. Obviously, Houston wants to avoid a repeat scenario of 2023. Altuve is one of the best hitters in baseball, and he's coming off a .265/.329/.442 campaign that would be classified as above-average for most players, but was a down year by his standards. He added 26 home runs, an 8.4% walk rate, a 16.7% strikeout rate, and 113 wRC+. He posted 2.1 fWAR, which was his lowest mark since 2020. Last season also required Altuve to adjust to a new defensive position; he made 47 appearances in left field, as well as 66 at second base and 49 as the Astros' designated hitter. As it stands, Altuve ranks as the #6 second baseman in RotoBaller's latest fantasy baseball draft rankings for 2026.--Andersen Pickard
Source: Brian McTaggart