Call him champ
2nd baseman leads the AL in hits for 4th year in a row
Though hitless in 4-3 win, Jose Altuve seals up third AL batting title.
BOSTON — Jose Altuve’s winning the American League batting title has become so much the norm that there was little attention or fanfare surrounding the latest accomplishment of the Astros’ star second baseman.
The fact it has become basically expected is perhaps the best indicator of Altuve’s greatness.
“Going into any year, I would say most experts would expect him to win the batting title,” Astros manager A.J. Hinch said Sunday before the AL West champions finished their 101-win regular season with a 4-3 victory over the Red Sox. “Which is insane to think about, given how many good hitters there are in the league.”
Altuve wrapped up batting championship No. 3 and his third in four seasons Sunday with a majorleague best .346 average in 590 at-bats. The clip set a career high and was the best by an Astro since Moises Alou hit .355 in 2000. Altuve batted .341 when he won his 2014 batting title and .338 last year.
A Tuesday toast
The Astros plan to toast their AL MVP candidate in the clubhouse after Tuesday afternoon’s pre-American League Division Series workout at Minute Maid Park.
“This one is a little bit more special. This is the first time I win a batting title and the team is going to go to the playoffs,” said the 27-year-old Altuve, who joined Miguel Cabrera (four) and Joe Mauer (three) as recent AL players to win at least three career batting titles. “I’m just trying to do everything I can to help this team.”
Altuve is the first major leaguer to win back-toback batting titles since Cabrera won three straight from 2011-13. Between the two of them, a Venezuelan has won the AL batting title in seven consecutive seasons. A Venezuelan has won in either league for eight straight years, as Colorado’s Carlos Gonzalez was the 2010 NL batting champion. Altuve takes pride in that.
“I feel happy to be part of that small group,” Altuve said.
White Sox right fielder Avisail Garcia, also from Venezuela and a friend of Altuve, finished second in AL batting at .330. Charlie Blackmon of the Rockies won the NL batting title with a .331 clip. Blackmon led the majors in hits with 213.
“Starting from tomorrow, everybody’s going to go from zero,” said Altuve, who after batting leadoff Sunday will move back to the third spot in the Astros’ lineup for the postseason. “Zero wins. Zero losses. Your average is zero. So I’ve got to try to do the same thing to help my team to win.”
Altuve’s .346 average is the third best in a single season for an Astros player who had enough plate appearances to qualify for the batting title. Hall of Famer Jeff Bagwell batted .368 in his 1994 NL MVP season, which was strike-shortened. He finished second in the NL in average that season to Tony Gwynn (.394). Alou’s .355 in 2000 also placed him second, behind Todd Helton (.372).
Altuve, who went 0-for2 with two groundouts to third base Sunday, finished a double shy of 40 for the season. His 204 hits were 12 more than the AL player with the next most, Kansas City’s Eric Hosmer.
Consistent all season
The consistency with which Altuve accomplished his cumulative average is incredible. He batted .347 before the All-Star break and .344 after it. He hit .345 against righthanders and .353 against lefties.
The biggest discrepancy is his home and road splits. Altuve batted .311 at home and .381 on the road. No regular player has recorded that high of a road batting average since Ichiro Suzuki’s .405 in 2004.
Altuve also became the first player in major league history to lead his league outright in hits four consecutive seasons. Suzuki led the AL in hits for five consecutive seasons from 2006 to 2010 but tied with Dustin Pedroia in 2008.
“It’s crazy to think of how routine he’s making 200 hits a year. We just sort of expect that, and it’s not easy,” said Hinch, who refers to Altuve as “the heart and soul of what we’re about.”
“It’s not easy to be as consistent as he’s been.”
jake.kaplan@chron.com twitter.com/jakemkaplan