Altuve has 8 BB’s this year so far. Last year he got his 8th walk on 4/30/25. The game on 4/30 was Altuve’s 1st 2 walk game of the year. This year he had 2 - 2 walk games in March.
Based off this short sample size, I have a theory. ABS is helping Altuve. His zone is shorter than other batters. Part of my theory is that one of the reasons he was a free swinger for much of his career is he was having to deal with a larger strike zone. Just like when the ump gives a pitcher a couple of inches off the plate, batters start swinging at pitches further out than that; Altuve was constantly facing high strikes that were technically out of his zone. Now he doesn’t have to swing at higher strikes because he can challenge those.
Yes. It’s a cumulative number, but it’s relative to how you’re performing against the competition. Altuve’s WAR went down from 0.5 to 0.4 last night, even though he didn’t play. Players below average actually accumulate a negative WAR. Altuve posted a -0.3 WAR for 2020.
For the record, that was not me. I always had a good eye. I didn’t swing at much slop. That’s doesn’t mean I always hit the good pitches all that well, however. But I was not a flailer
He’s improved a lot, but it’s still likely that over the course of the next couple of months he’ll make three shaky plays that give back the three runs he saved yesterday. There’s no doubt he’s a tremendous athlete.