PHILADELPHIA -- Jose Altuve has put together quite the résumé over his 16-year career with the Astros.
American League MVP in 2017. Two-time World Series champion. Nine-time All-Star. Seven-time Silver Slugger. Gold Glove winner. ALCS MVP in '19.
Well, he reached yet another impressive milestone in Wednesday night's 11-7 loss to Philadelphia at Citizens Bank Park. Altuve's double off Phillies ace Cristopher Sánchez in the third inning marked the 2,500th hit of his prestigious career.
Astros players and coaches celebrated the moment from the top step of the third-base dugout, while the relievers paid their respects from the bullpen in center field. Altuve acknowledged all of them, while maintaining his typical stoic demeanor.
Even Phillies middle infielders Trea Turner and Luis Arraez congratulated Altuve and gave him a pat on the back.
However, the celebration was short-lived for the Astros.
Though Altuve’s double came as part of a four-run inning that staked Houston to an early lead, the Phillies responded quickly with four runs of their own in the bottom half. The Astros later scored two more off Sánchez to retake the lead, but it slipped away during a six-run sixth inning in which Bryan King let all four batters he faced reach safely (one via error) before AJ Blubaugh gave up a grand slam to MLB home run leader Kyle Schwarber.
On the bright side, the Astros remained two games ahead of the Rangers atop the AL West, courtesy of Texas’ loss to the Mariners earlier on Wednesday.
"It was a great moment,” Altuve said. “I'm really sad we lost the game, but you know, we come back tomorrow and [try to] get a win."
Altuve joins Dodgers superstar Freddie Freeman -- who recorded his 2,500th hit earlier this season -- as the only active players in the 2,500-hit club. Overall, Altuve is the 102nd player in AL/NL history to accomplish the feat.
But only 31 of those players reached 2,500 hits in fewer games than Altuve, who did so in his 2,095th career game. (Hall of Famer Ted Williams also recorded his 2,500th hit in his 2,095th career game.)
“It's incredible what [Altuve’s] accomplished in his career, and obviously, he's not done,” manager Joe Espada said. “Twenty-five hundred hits -- it's hard just to get one. It's hard just to get to the big leagues. And this guy's been doing it for a very long time.”
Don't be fooled by the fact that two players have reached the milestone within the past few months. After all, Altuve and Freeman are unlikely to welcome a newcomer any time soon.
The only other active players with even 2,000 hits are Andrew McCutchen (2,280), Paul Goldschmidt (2,272), Manny Machado (2,185) and Nolan Arenado (2,032). McCutchen is currently a free agent, while none of the others figure to have a realistic chance to reach 2,500 hits until 2028 at the earliest.
“What an incredible accomplishment. Unbelievable,” said starter Hunter Brown. “Hopefully, he’s got another 500 more in there.”
How about it?
“Let’s get one hit at a time,” Altuve said. “I just got this one, and I'm happy about the one that I got tonight. We'll see what happens in the future.”
That path to 3,000 won't be easy.
Altuve, 36, has three years remaining on his contract after this season. At his current rate, he's on pace to finish the year with 2,515 career hits.
That means he would need 485 hits in those three seasons to reach 3,000 by the end of his contract. That's not to say Altuve won't play beyond his current deal, but for the sake of prognosticating, let's look at what it would take to get there during that span.
Altuve would need to average 162 hits per season. He's reached that total just once in the past five seasons (185 hits in 2024).
Making that even tougher, of course, is the fact that he'll be turning 37 years old next May. Only a dozen players in AL/NL history have tallied at least 485 hits in their age 37-39 seasons -- and only six have done so within the past 80 years.
Here's the list of players with that many hits in that particular three-year stretch of their careers:
• Ichiro Suzuki (2011-13)
• Omar Vizquel (2004-06)
• Craig Biggio (2003-05)
• Tony Gwynn (1997-99)
• Paul Molitor (1994-96)
• Pete Rose (1978-80)
• Doc Cramer (1943-45)
• Sam Rice (1927-29)
• Tris Speaker (1925-27)
• Jake Daubert (1921-23)
• Lave Cross (1903-05)
• Cap Anson (1889-91)
Altuve, though, will be the first to admit that the number he's chasing isn't 3,000. It wasn't 2,500 either.
He wants an eighth division title. He wants a fifth AL pennant.
Most importantly, he wants World Series ring No. 3.
"That's our goal,” Altuve said. “And I know we've got the team to do it."