OAKLAND -- Now that the Astros have Carlos Correa and George Springer back in the starting lineup, could All-Star second baseman Jose Altuve be far behind?
Altuve, who's been out since July 25 with a sore right knee, took another huge step toward returning to action Friday when he performed various drills on the field at Oakland Coliseum. If he responds well, he could begin a Minor League rehab outing this weekend for Triple-A Fresno at Tacoma before being activated before the end of the road trip. The Astros on Monday open a three-game series at Seattle, which is about 30 miles from Tacoma.
"We feel like he's been off long enough he needs to get out and get into a game," Astros manager AJ Hinch said. "You can run really controlled practice drills all you want, but when you're gone for three weeks with a lower extremity injury, it can be a lot of unknown."
The Astros put Altuve through game-like baserunning drills on Friday, simulated stopping and starting on the bases. He also fielded grounders at second base and took batting practice on the field. The six-time All-Star said he felt great.
"It was a good day for me, and I'm really happy about it," he said.
Hinch said the goal on Friday was to simulate the unknowns of game situations as much as possible. For example, Altuve took off from second base and turned for third where he was either waved home or held up by third-base coach Gary Pettis.
"We're not going to be able to practice everything before we send him out to a game," Hinch said. "Defensively, change of direction and things like that are the biggest fear we have because of the unknown of the change of direction with his knee soreness. He did all of that -- he hit and took ground balls. If he can come out of that pretty clean tomorrow, we might be able to get him out to a rehab assignment that would be very quick and ultimately have him rejoin us, even on this trip."