Throw a fastball away and he goes away. Altuve led all of baseball in 2017 with an astounding.346 batting average. Signed a four-year contract extension on July 13, 2013, that covered the 2013-17 seasons...the deal also included club options for the 2018 and 2019 seasons...had his 2018 option picked up on Nov. 6, 2017...Signed the largest contract in franchise history on March 19, 2018, a seven-year deal that will keep him in Houston through 2024.In his age 29 season, overcame an early-season hamstring injury to post prodigious offensive numbers over the second-half of the year...named a Second Team All-MLB selection...put together his third-career season with an OPS above .900, as he recorded a .902 OPS (.353 OBP/.550 SLG)...became the fourth player in franchise history with at least three seasons with an OPS above .900, joining Moises Alou (3), Lance Berkman (9) and Jeff Bagwell (9)...set a career high with 31 homers, the most by a second baseman in a single season in club history (previously Jeff Kent, 27 in 2004)...led MLB second basemen in HR, OPS, batting average and slugging percentage...postedPut together his sixth-career All-Star season in what was his eighth season in the Major Leagues...played in 137 games, the second-lowest total of his career behind his debut 2011 season (57 games)...served his firstcareer stint on the Disabled List from July 26-Aug. 21 (right knee soreness)...prior to his DL placement, was leading the Majors in hits...among AL players on the year, ranked third in batting average (.316) and sixth in on-base percentage (.386)...led the Majors in road batting average with his .349 (94x269) mark...marked the thirdconsecutive season that he led the Majors in road batting...led the Majors in batting average in the 7th inningor-later with a .380 average (57x150), a franchise record for a single season (previously Lance Berkman, .371 in 2004)...ranked third among all Major League hitters in batting average vs. right-handed pitchers (.329, 128x392)... tied his single-game career-high for hits (4) four times during the season, giving him 28 career four-hit games, the second-most in franchise history behind Craig Biggio (34)...surpassed Jeff Bagwell (26) and Cesar Cedeño (25)... moved up the club all-time lists in runs scored (8th, 645), hits (7th, 1,419) and multi-hit games (6th, 403)...led the Major Leagues in All-Star fan votes, becoming the first player in franchise history to do so...was his sixth All-Star selection and his fourth-consecutive fan-elected start at second base...became the second player in franchise history to start four All-Star Games, joining Craig Biggio (1995-98)...made his seventh-career Opening Day roster, making his seventh Opening Day start at second base on March 29 at TEX...exited the game in the 4th inning on July 25 at COL with right knee discomfort...placed on the DL on July 28 (retroactive to July 26) with right knee soreness...activated from the DL on Aug. 21...posted the 25th four-hit game of his career on March 30 at TEX... played in his 1,000th career game on April 10 at MIN...recorded 1,272 career hits within his first 1,000 career games, the second-most by a foreign-born player in MLB history behind only Ichiro Suzuki and his 1,414 hits... only 25 players in MLB history recorded more hits within their first 1,000 games than Altuve, and 18 of the 25 are members of the Hall of Fame...recorded the 4,000th at-bat of his career on April 11 at MIN...played in his 500th career game at Minute Maid Park on April 27 vs. OAK...became the fourth player in franchise history to play 500 career games at Minute Maid Park, joining Brad Ausmus (501), Craig Biggio (590) and Lance Berkman (779)...fell a triple shy of the cycle on April 28 vs. OAK (4x5) in what was the 26th four-hit game of his career...posted 41 hits prior to May, the second-most in club history prior to May of a single season behind Derek Bell and his 45 hits in 1998...on May 6 at ARI, became the seventh player in club history to hit a triple on his birthday...logged his 1,000th career game at second base on May 22 vs. SF...became the third player in Astros history to play 1,000 games at the position, joining Craig Biggio (1,990) and Bill Doran (1,138)...fell a double shy of the cycle in a 4x4 game on May 26 at CLE...was his 27th career four-hit game, surpassing Jeff Bagwell (26) for second-most in franchise history... recorded his second-consecutive four-hit game on May 27 at CLE (the 28th of his career)...recorded a hit in 10 consecutive at-bats spanning three games (May 25-27), topping his previous franchise record of hits in eight straight at-bats that he set in 2017...became the first Major Leaguer to get a hit in 10 straight at-bats since Dustin Pedroia (11 straight AB's) in 2016 (Elias Sports Bureau)...posted the third multi-homer game of his career on June 20 vs. TB...combined for back-to-back-to-back home runs with George Springer and Alex Bregman on June 20 vs. TB (Springer-Bregman-Altuve)...was the sixth time in club history that the Astros hit three consecutive homers in an inning, and the first time since May 2, 2008 vs. MIL (Miguel Tejada-Lance Berkman-Carlos Lee)...recorded 129 hits prior to the All-Star Break, the second-most in franchise history for a single season and one shy of his club record of 130 set in 2014...hit safely in 22 consecutive starts at home from June 2-July 14, the longest streak by an Astro in Minute Maid Park history...was the second-longest home streak in franchise history, behind Rusty Staub's 25-game streak at the Astrodome in 1967...went 1x3 as the starting second baseman in the 2018 All-Star Game at Nationals Park...his single was his first-career hit in an All-Star Game...became the ninth second baseman in AL history to start four All-Star Games, joining Roberto Alomar (9), Rod Carew (8), Nellie Fox (8), Charlie Gehringer (6), Joe Gordon (5), Bobby Doerr (5), Robinson Cano (5) and Willie Randolph (4)...hit the 11th leadoff homer of his career on Sept. 11 at DET, and his first since May 5, 2016 vs. DET...became the fourth player in franchise history to hit 11 leadoff homers, joining Craig Biggio (53), George Springer (24) and Terry Puhl (13)...batted .265 (9x34) with two doubles, one homer and four RBI in eight postseason games...reached base in all eight games...started at second base in the Astros first five postseason games, before starting at DH in Games 3-5 of the ALCS...homered off Corey Kluber in Game 1 of the ALDS vs. CLE, going back-to-back with George Springer...was the fourth set of back-to-back home runs by the Astros in postseason history (first since Altuve and Carlos Correa in Game 2 of the 2017 World Series at LAD)...underwent successful surgery on his right knee on Oct. 19.Was an All-Star for the 5th time in his career in what was an MVP-caliber season...won the AL MVP, Hank Aaron Award, his fourth consecutive Silver Slugger, second consecutive Sporting News Player of the Year, Sports Illustrated Sportsperson of the Year, Esurance Best Major Leaguer and the MLB Player of the Year and the AL Most Outstanding Player at the Player Choice Awards for the second consecutive season...won his third career and second consecutive batting title as he led the AL with a career-high .346 batting average...led the Majors in batting average by 15 points, topping Charlie Blackmon (.331)...the last Major League player to post a batting average this high was Miguel Cabrera in his 2013 MVP season (.348)...joined Ty Cobb (11), Rod Carew (7), Ted Williams (6), Wade Boggs (5), Nap Lajoi (5), Miguel Cabrera (4), Harry Heilman (4), George Brett (3), Tony Oliva (3), Carl Yastrzemski (3) and Joe Mauer (3) as the only AL players ever to win three or more batting titles...also led the American League in hits (204)...became the first player in Major League history to be the outright leader in hits in his league in hits in four consecutive seasons...Ichiro Suzuki led the AL in hits from 2006-07 and 2009-10, but shared the lead in hits with Dustin Pedroia in 2008...this was his fourth career (and fourth consecutive) 200-hit season...prior to Altuve, only one player in club history had ever recorded 200 hits in a season, Craig Biggio in 1998 (210)...became the 11th player in MLB history to record 200 hits in four consecutive years, joining Ichiro Suzuki (10 from 2001-10), Michael Young (5 from 2003-07), Kirby Puckett (1986-89), Wade Boggs (7 from 1983-89), Charlie Gehringer (5 from 1933-37), Chuck Klein (5 from 1929-33), Bill Terry (1929-32), Al Simmons (5 from 1929- 33), Paul Waner (1927-30) and Jack Tobin (1920-23)...became the fourth right-handed hitter in MLB history to reach 200 hits in four straight seasons, joining Simmons, Puckett and Young...received an AL Player of the Month award (July) and an AL Player of the Week award (July 3-9)...also received the Lou Gehrig Memorial Award...led the AL in multi-hit games (59) and the Majors in games with at least three hits (23)...marked the most multi-hit games by an Astro since 2014, when he set a club record with 69...also marked the most games with at least three hits by an Astro since 2014, when he set a club record with 24...led the Majors in WAR (8.4, Baseball-Reference), topping Aaron Judge (8.1), Giancarlo Stanton (7.6) and Joey Votto (7.5)...in the AL, ranked first in infield hits (35), tied for second in runs (112), third in OBP (.410), third in stolen bases (32), third in OPS (.957), fifth in total bases (323), sixth in slugging (.547) and tied for ninth in doubles (39)...hit .346 with 32 steals and a .957 OPS...became the 14th player in Major League history to put up those numbers in a single season, joining Larry Walker (1997), Ellis Burks (1996), Paul Molitor (1987), Tony Gwynn (1987), Jackie Robinson (1949), Kiki Cuyler (1925, 1929-30), George Sisler (1920-22), Ty Cobb (1910-15, 1917), Tris Speaker (1912-13, 1916), Shoeless Joe Jackson (1911-12), Benny Kauff (1914), Sam Crawford (1911) and Honus Wagner (1908)...this was his sixth consecutive 30-steal season...is the only player in the Majors with 30 steals in each of the last six seasons...joins Cesar Cedeño (1972-77) as the only Astros with six consecutive 30-steal seasons...posted a .965 OPS as a second baseman, the highest by an AL second baseman since Chuck Knoblauch in 1996 (.971)...posted a batting average above .290 and an OPS above .850 in every month...ranked second in the AL in both batting average prior to the All-Star Break (.347) and batting average after the All-Star Break (.344)...posted a .441 (26x59) batting average in close and late situations, which led all Major League hitters and was the highest mark produced by a Major Leaguer since Yan Gomes hit .458 (27x59) in those situations in 2015...hit .381 (112x294) on the road, which led the Majors and was the highest mark by a Major Leaguer since Ichiro Suzuki hit .405 on the road in 2004...hit .421 (32x76) in Interleague play, which was the best mark in the Majors...has long been one of the best hitters in the Majors against southpaws, but this year led all Major League hitters in batting average against right-handed pitchers with a .344 (155x451) mark...received his fifth career All-Star nod, and third career fan-elected start at second base after finishing second among all AL players in votes with 3,880,372, behind only Aaron Judge (4,488,702)...became the second player in club history to start three straight All-Star Games, joining Craig Biggio (1995-98 at 2B)...his five All-Star nominations rank tied for second in club history with Lance Berkman, behind Craig Biggio (7)...became the 11th second baseman in AL history to start three All-Star Games, joining Roberto Alomar (9), Rod Carew (8), Nellie Fox (8), Charlie Gehringer (6), Joe Gordon (5), Bobby Doerr (5), Robinson Cano (5), Willie Randolph (4), Alfonso Soriano (3) and Lou Whitaker (3)...posted a .547 slugging percentage, the fifth-highest single-season mark by a player listed at 5-foot-6 or shorter in MLB history...ranked behind four separate seasons by Hack Wilson, set from 1927- 30...Wilson posted a .723 SLG in 1930...made his sixth consecutive Opening Day roster and avoided a stint on the Disabled List for the seventh consecutive season...began the year just 6x32 (.188) over his first eight games from April 3-10...had no extra-base hits, home runs or RBI in that span...ended up batting .326 (29x89) with three homers and an .874 OPS in 24 games during the month of April...stole the 200th base of his career on April 9 vs. KC...became the seventh player in club history with 200 career steals, and the first since Craig Biggio (414) and Jeff Bagwell (202)...reached base safely in 11 consecutive plate appearances from April 11-14, going 8x11 (.727) with four walks and three doubles over a three-game span...became the first Astros player to reach in 11 straight plate appearances since Bill Spiers set a franchise record by reaching in 13 straight plate appearances in 1997...did not play on April 26 at CLE, snapping a streak of 80 consecutive games where he started and hit third in the Astros lineup...that streak began on Aug. 19, 2016...left the game on April 25 at CLE in the 8th inning after suffering a collision with RF Teoscar Hernandez...posted a 17-game hitting streak at Angel Stadium that ran from June 22, 2015-May 7, 2017...was the fourth-longest hitting streak by a visiting player in the history of the venue...hit .414 (29x70) with a .447 OBP during his streak...went 4x5 with two doubles, two triples and an RBI on May 17 at MIA... set a single-game career-high for extra-base hits...became the first player in club history to hit two doubles and two triples in a single game, and the 12th player in MLB history to do so (first since Carl Crawford in 2005)...also became the third Major Leaguer since 1913 to record four extra-base hits in a game without scoring, joining Matt Murton (2006) and Willie Jones (1949)...went 8x14 (.571) during Houston's three-game series in Minnesota at Target Field (May 29-31), giving him hits in all 14 of his career games played at the venue...posted a 35-game road on-base streak from Sept. 9, 2016-June 19, 2017....was the second-longest streak of his career behind a 43-game run in 2016...hit .399 (55x138) with a .475 OBP during his streak...played the 900th game of his career on June 20 at OAK...only 31 players in MLB history recorded more hits within their first 900 games than Altuve (1,133)...his hit total was more than Ted Williams (1,117), Albert Pujols (1,114), Lou Gehrig (1,113) and Pete Rose (1,100) recorded within their first 900 games in MLB...named the AL Player of the Month for July after leading the Majors in batting (.485), hits (48), OBP (.523), OPS (1.251) and total bases (72)...recorded a hit in 21 of his 23 games in the month, including multiple hits in 16 games...posted the ninth-highest July batting average in Major League history, and the highest since Chipper Jones hit .500 in July of 2006...was the highest batting average by an Astros player in any month in club history...per Elias, was the fifth-highest batting average by a Major Leaguer in any calendar month since 1961, trailing Todd Helton (.512, May 2000), Ivan Rodriguez (.500, June 2004), George Brett (.494, July 1980) and Wade Boggs (.485, June 1987)...his 48 hits in July were tied for the second most in club history for a single July with Craig Biggio (1999), trailing only Rusty Staub's 49 hits in July of 1967...was named the AL Player of the Week for the week of July 3-9...was his third career weekly award, and second by an Astro in 2017...during the week, he hit .625 (15x24) with two doubles, two homers, 10 RBI, two steals and a 1.625 OPS in five games, leading the AL in batting, OBP and OPS...recorded three hits in five consecutive games from July 4-9, setting a franchise record for consecutive three-hit games...became the ninth player in Major League history to record at least three hits in five straight games, and the first since George Brett, who tied the Major League record with a six-game run in 1976...posted a .347 batting average prior to the All-Star Break...tied him for the fifth-highest batting average prior to the All-Star Break in club history with Lance Berkman (.347 in 2008), behind Berkman (.365 in 2001), Moises Alou (.362 in 2001), Cesar Cedeño (.355 in 1972) and Jeff Bagwell (.348 in 1994)...recorded consecutive four-hit games from July 23-24, tying a franchise record for most consecutive four-hit games...marked the third time in his career that he recorded back-to-back four-hit games...recorded a hit in eight consecutive at-bats during those games...had a club-high 19-game hitting streak from July 2-28...hit .524 (44x84) with 14 multi-hit games, 10 doubles, one triple, four homers, 19 RBI and a 1.370 OPS...was longest streak by an Astro since Hunter Pence's 23-game streak in 2011...doubled in five straight games from July 23-28, tying him for the second-longest doubles streak in club history, last accomplished by Ty Wigginton in 2008...hit six home runs in August, tying the most he has hit in any month of his career (also April of 2016)...hit his 24th homer on Sept. 19 vs. CWS, tying his career high set in 2016...batted .310 (22x71) with two doubles, seven homers, 14 RBI, two steals and a 1.021 OPS (.388 OBP/.634 SLG) in 18 postseason games...set a franchise record for hits in a single postseason with 22, surpassing Carlos Beltrán's record of 20 he set in 2004...marked the 2nd-most hits by a second baseman in a single postseason in MLB history, behind only Marty Barrett (1986)...set a MLB record for RBI as a second baseman in a single postseason with 14...his seven homers tied for the most by a second baseman in a single postseason with Daniel Murphy (2015)...tied the fourth-most homers in a single postseason in MLB history, regardless of position... hit six of his postseason at homers at Minute Maid Park...tied a MLB record for most home runs at home in a single postseason, tying Jayson Werth (2009)...tied a Major record for most three-hit games in a single postseason with four...joined Albert Pujols (2004), Edgar Martinez (1995) and Jay Buhner (1995)...hit three home runs in Game 1 of the ALDS vs. BOS...hit two of his homers off LHP Chris Sale...became the first player in club history with a threehomer game in the postseason, and the ninth player in MLB history to do so...joined Pablo Sandoval (2012 World Series Game 1), Albert Pujols (2011 World Series Game 3), Adrian Beltre (2011 ALDS Game 4), Adam Kennedy (2002 ALCS Game 5), George Brett (1978 ALCS Game 3), Reggie Jackson (1977 World Series Game 6), Bob Robertson (1971 NLCS Game 2) and Babe Ruth (1928 World Series Game 4, 1926 World Series Game 4)...hit backto-back homers off LHP Chris Sale with Alex Bregman in the 1st inning of Game 1 of the ALDS, making the Astros the fifth team in AL history to hit back-to-back HR in the 1st inning of a postseason game (first since Detroit in 2011)...became the first player in club history to record multiple hits in each of his first three games of a single postseason...hit a go-ahead solo homer to lead off the 10th inning of Game 2 of the World Series, homering off his former teammate RHP Josh Fields...was the 18th extra-innings homer in World Series history, and the first since David Freese's walkoff homer for the Cardinals in Game 6 of the 2011 World Series vs. TEX...became the 13th player in MLB history to post a game with three hits, four RBI and three runs scored in the World Series when he did so in Game 5...hit a game-tying, three run homer off Kenta Maeda.Was named to his fourth career All-Star Game, named the Sporting News Player of the Year, MLBPA Player's Choice Player of the Year and AL Most Outstanding Player, and won his third consecutive Silver Slugger Award in what was his sixth Major League season...with a .338 average and 216 hits, won the AL batting title and led the AL in hits for the second time in his career...also led the league with a .341 clip and 225 hits in 2014...became the first second baseman to win multiple batting titles since Rod Carew, who won five as a second baseman between 1969-75...became the first second baseman in Major League history to reach 100 runs, 200 hits, 40 doubles, 20 HR, 95 RBI and 30stolen basesin one season...became just the sixth player in Major League history overall with this distinction (source: Elias)...his combined 204 runs scored and RBI accounted for 28 percent of the Astros 724 runs scored overall in 2016...ranked in the top five in the AL in several categories: batting average (1st, .338); hits (1st, 216); four-hit games: (1st, 8); three-hit games; (T-1st, 23); steals (T-2nd, 30); WAR (3rd, 7.7); doubles (T-3rd, 42); total bases (4th, 340); OBP (4th, .396); OPS (5th, .928)...his 340 total bases were tied for eighth all-time in a season for an AL second baseman (50% of games at the position)...216 hits were also seventh all-time for an AL second baseman...led all AL second basemen in batting, hits, OBP, WAR, total bases and OPS while ranking second in slugging (.531)...was the Houston Chapter BBWAA Astros MVP...was the Astros nominee for the 2016 Hank Aaron Award which has recognized the most outstanding offensive performer in each league since it was established in 1999...reached career highs in HR, RBI, slugging, total bases and OPS while maintaining his low strikeout rate (10.24 strikeouts per PA, 2nd in the AL)...batted .376 on the road, which was tops in the Majors and the highest of any hitter since Ichiro Suzuki hit .405 on the road in 2004...posted a .991 road OPS...was named AL Player of the Month in June after hitting .420 (42x100) with six doubles, 4 HR, 15 RBI, six steals and a 1.112 OPS (.492 OBP/.620 SLG) in 26 games...led all AL players in batting average, establishing a franchise record for the month of June (min.