Taking a Knee for Altuve

I wanted to take a second to appreciate Jose Altuve. I’ve done a few “appreciation” articles, but honestly this one is a whole different level. I am not going to bore you with exactly how great Altuve is. On a team filled with stars such as Bregman, Correa, Springer, Verlander, Cole, etc - Jose Altuve stands head and shoulders above the rest - which says a lot for a guy who is one of the shortest in baseball.

But this article is not about Altuve’s stats, his MVP, him being the hits leader over the past few years etc ... it is about him being the heart and soul of this team.

While this is just one example, I think it’s so far beyond amazing, it needed it’s own article

In 2018, the fastest average time of ANY runner in baseball with 50+ opportunities, was 30.2 feet per second. (There were faster individual runs, or potentially with less running events that were clocked)

Altuve, with a BROKEN KNEE CAP tied the highest feet per second average on this play.

I’m not a doctor, but here are some exerts of the reported injury. I apologize if anything of this is incorrect as it’s a bit above my paygrade: (Note: the knee picture in this article was a bit graphic but not bloody)

“A patellar fracture is a serious injury that can make it difficult or even impossible to straighten your knee or walk.”

Symptoms

The most common symptoms of a patellar fracture are pain and swelling in the front of the knee. Other symptoms may include:

• Bruising
• Inability to straighten the knee or keep it extended in a straight leg raise
• Inability to walk

Rehabilitation

Whether your treatment is surgical or nonsurgical, rehabilitation will play a vital role in getting you back to your daily activities.

Because treatment for a patellar fracture can sometimes require keeping your leg immobilized in a cast for a long period of time, your knee may become stiff and your thigh muscles may become weak.

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Can we take a second to recognize the astonishing difference between inability to walk and 30.2 feet per second? You could tell that on every play, Altuve was in agony, but Hinch was quoted saying:

“At this juncture, what he brings is beyond that comparison,” Hinch said (via MLB.com). ”He’s not going to hurt himself any further. He’s part of our heart and soul. You’re going to have to drag him off the field and I applaud him for that.”

When asked about pulling Altuve, he responded:

“You should try to live with someone pulling your heart out of your body and see how long you live,” Hinch said. ”We’re not going to live without Jose”

Well, luckily for Hinch, and for all of us, we have him locked down for the next few years. I’m hoping he’s one who retires a life time Astro!