Jose Altuve has solidified himself as one of the best players in the MLB in his 13 seasons with the Houston Astros. He is fast, has a flashy glove, can hit for average, has good power, etc. Altuve is a tremendous baseball player, but before he was with the Astros, he wasn’t looked at as a super promising prospect by most scouts. Astros scout Johan Maya and now bench coach Omar López played a big role in getting Altuve to the big leagues.
Johan Maya made the first suggestion to play Jose Altuve when he was down in Venezuela, but Omar López was a little bit hesitant. He didn’t know if Altuve was ready yet, and he wanted him to get more developed. However, he decided to take a chance and play him, and the rest is history.
“He said, ‘Hey roomie, you’ve got to put Enano in,'” López said, according to an article from Chron. “‘Enano,’ the translation to English is, now don’t feel like this is bullying, it’s something that we call it in Venezuela, is ‘midget.’ And I said, ‘I can’t, Johan, I have to develop this guy first.'”
Altuve didn’t waste any time. He was immediately a terrific player in the field and at the plate, and he was a standout. It was clear that Maya made the right call.
“The third week I started to put Jose in, and the rest was history,” López said. “It was boom, boom, running crazy, making plays, ended up hitting .360 and he was the MVP. We went to the finals that year against the Pittsburgh Pirates in the Venezuelan Summer League and we won the whole thing. And after that, I said, ‘Johan, thank you.'”
Down the road, the Astros were deciding who they were going to bring up from Venezuela. López and Alfredo Pedrique, who also became a bench coach, were discussing which players should should come up, and Pedrique had forgotten to mention Altuve until López reminded him.
“He said, ‘Oh that’s right, we’ve got one more guy, the little guy. I’ll let Omar walk you through the type of player,'” López said. “And I’m like, ‘Oh my God,’ and I said, ‘Ricky, last year, I went to extended spring training,’ and back in those days, we didn’t have a Gulf Coast League team, just the Appalachian League team in Greenville, Tennessee, and it’s hard to bring guys from different countries because we don’t have a spot for them. So, I said, ‘Ricky, could you mention some of the names of the players?’ And he said, ‘Ok, this guy and this guy,’ and I said, ‘Ricky, with all respect, all of those guys you mention, they’re not even close to being as good as Jose Altuve. … The only thing he doesn’t have is the size, but he has the tools and he has the ability.'”
Jose Altuve started his career in the MLB in 2011 with the Astros, and he is still going strong. He was won multiple World Series, multiple MVPs, and he has been playing for over 12 years. Altuve is an Astros legend.
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