Jose Altuve left Houston’s 4-1 win over the Texas Rangers with soreness on his left side, forcing an MRI to be scheduled after an awkward moment while grounding into a double play.
The Houston Astros left Saturday with a win, but it didn’t come without a worrying moment. Jose Altuve exited Houston’s 4-1 victory over the Texas Rangers with soreness on his left side after appearing hurt while grounding into a double play in the eighth inning.
The sequence was jarring: Altuve took an awkward swing, then failed to run out of the batter’s box. He immediately held his left side and grimaced while walking back toward the dugout, where Astros manager Joe Espada and a trainer met him. In the ninth inning, Nick Allen replaced him at second base.
Espada later described what Altuve told the group after the game. “He said he kind of felt something on the left side,” Espada said. “Obviously, not good [that] he couldn’t even get out of the box and run.”
Houston’s immediate next step is medical evaluation. Espada said Altuve will undergo an MRI on Sunday. The injury timing matters because it arrives while the Astros are already stretched thin: the club entered Saturday with 14 players on the injured list.
Altuve’s potential setback adds to a crowded list of absences that includes starting catcher Yainer Diaz. third baseman Carlos Correa. shortstop Jeremy Pena. left fielder Joey Loperfido. center fielder Jake Meyers. pitchers Hunter Brown and Cristian Javier. and closer Josh Hader.. Pena and Meyers are among the names listed who could return Monday.
For all the concern about Altuve, the game also carried personal milestones for him.. He opened with his fourth home run of the 2026 season. a leadoff shot that was also the 42nd leadoff homer of his career.. It was his 38th regular-season home run against Texas, the most he has hit against any opponent.. Altuve also reached 239 career homers as a second baseman, tying Lou Whitaker for seventh-most all-time among players at the position.
Even as Houston improved with the win—moving to 19-28—the numbers behind Altuve’s season have been mixed. He is batting .245 with 12 RBIs this season.
The worry stretches further back than this season. Altuve previously missed 20 days during the 2023 season because of a left oblique injury, leaving a clear parallel running through the franchise’s concerns as another left-side issue surfaced.
Taken together, the timeline is hard to miss: Altuve’s left-side soreness appeared while he was grounded into a double play in the eighth inning, he couldn’t even get out of the box afterward, and Houston is already coping with 14 injured players while turning to an MRI scheduled for Sunday.
Saturday’s result kept Houston moving in the standings, but the focus now shifts to what the MRI will show and whether the Astros can avoid yet another ripple through a roster already weighed down by injuries.
Jose Altuve Houston Astros Texas Rangers injury update MRI Joe Espada Nick Allen 2026 season MLB