The Houston Astros suffered a huge loss on Saturday night when second baseman Jose Altuve was hit in the right hand by a Daniel Bard pitch. Altuve was competing for Venezuela in the World Baseball Classic and was facing Team USA in the quarterfinals.
That hit by pitch turned into a broken thumb that will require surgery and comes with recovery time of 8-10 weeks. That's a significant amount of time for Altuve to miss, but the Astros already have their contingency plan in place with David Hensley.
Hensley was already a favorite to make the 26-man roster out of camp purely for his ability to play across the diamond and the outfield. Now, he looks to be a lock to take on the bulk of the work at the keystone.
The utilityman appeared in 16 games for Houston during the 2022 MLB season and slashed .345/.441/.586 with a home run in 29 at-bats. It's an impressive, albeit small sample size.
However, his time in the minors is equally as impressive. At the Triple-A level Hensley holds a career .298/.420/.478 slashline while at Double-A he has a career .293 batting average.
All that to say, he has hit at every level. The San Diego State product will not have the extended opportunity to perform at the MLB level in Altuve's absence. If he makes the most of it, he may very well never see the minors again and completely alter the course of his career for the better.
Even though Altuve's news is disappointing, there may be no need to fear as the Astros have incredible depth and a viable option in David Hensley.
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