Astros' Jose Altuve has made a dramatic change to his game so far in 2026 MLB season

Jose Altuve has been one of the shortest players in baseball his entire career with the Houston Astros.

But despite having a small strike zone, he has never walked very much.

This season, that has changed, at least in the early going.

The Athletic's Chandler Rome shared this stat Sunday on X:

• In 2025, Altuve needed 92 plate appearances to reach 5 walks for the season.
• In 2026, Altuve has needed just 16 plate appearances to reach 5 walks for the season.

There are obviously a lot of things that go into this, including pitchers who may just lose it for an at bat here or there against Altuve.

MORE: Yankees break franchise record set by 1908 New York Highlanders

The reality, though, is that for most of his career Altuve has swung early and often -- and he's so good at making contact that he rarely just fouls pitches off or whiffs. 

Instead, he puts the ball in play, and that means at bats don't get deep enough for Altuve to walk very often.

It's early, of course, so nothing is guaranteed to continue here. There's a chance that Altuve has just worked his way to five walks as a fluke.

But it would make sense for him to be at least a little more patient as he ages. There's a lot of wisdom in that mind when Altuve goes to the plate. It makes sense to try to use it, especially if Altuve feels better about how the strike zone will be called this season with the advent of the ABS challenge system.

Regardless of the reason, Altuve is proving he can reach base on walks. It's certainly not a bad addition to his repertoire.

More MLB news:

• Wrigley Field wind impacted potential HR by more than 100 feet
• Aaron Judge ties Dodgers legend on MLB all-time record list
• Roman Anthony joins feat of 9 Hall of Famers
• Reds make umpire CB Bucknor look bad with ABS challenges
• This New York Times crossword clue is bizarre for baseball fans
• The Mets already have a Bo Bichette problem