Altuve is hitting .421 (8-for-19) with two home runs and four RBI this spring, but admits he needs to be more consistent, Hunter Atkins of the Houston Chronicle reports. "Right now I see one good at-bat and the other one not so good," he said. "When I show up one day and I have three or four quality at-bats in a row that's a good sign."
Altuve the professional hitter sees where he needs to improve, but to the outside observer's naked eye, the 2017 AL MVP looks to be in midseason form. He's not concerned with the numbers, but rather how often he's making hard contact. That will come with more at-bats. At the very least, his impeccable management of the strike zone is intact. Not many balls are missing his bat. Altuve's whiffed just three times over 20 plate appearances and, as a corollary to his hard-contact rate improving, his strikeout rate will shrink with more plate appearances.