4 years agoHouston Astros second baseman Jose Altuve already knows that he’ll have the day off for Wednesday’s series finale against the Giants, as manager Dusty Baker announced so prior to Tuesday's game. Altuve has been ice cold at the dish to open 2020 by his standards, having recently taken over the leadoff spot in the order with George Springer (wrist) out of the equation. With an xBA of .215 and xSLG of .330, Altuve’s metrics back up the .183/.256/.338 slash line that he has compiled through his first 16 games. Baker is hoping that sitting Altuve on Wednesday, mixed with Thursday’s off-day, yields positive results when he returns to the lineup Friday against Mariners left-hander Yusei Kikuchi, whom he homered against last year.--Jesse Borek
Source: Brian McTaggart