Altuve's Foot Adds to Houston's Aging-Core Problem

Jose Altuve left Tuesday's game in San Francisco with a foot contusion after taking a pitch off his left foot. No IL move has been announced, but the Astros are already at 55-59 and a game out of the last wild card with 48 to play. They do not have the cushion to absorb even a short absence from their second baseman.

The timing is the thing. Houston's roster carries three position starters at 35 or older — Altuve at 36, Christian Walker and Christian Vázquez both at 35 — and all three represent succession questions the front office has not yet answered. That is a manageable structural issue in April. In the second week of August, with a three-game losing streak already in place and the rotation still short-handed, it becomes something more immediate. Nick Allen is the next option at second base per the depth chart, and he has not been a regular presence this year.

The broader picture has not improved since I wrote about Correa's return timeline last week. Correa is still on the 60-day IL, Arrighetti and Burrows are both unavailable, and the offense has quietly slipped — scoring about half a run less per game over the last 10 than in the stretch before it. Yordan Alvarez, the team's only All-Star, remains the one reliable constant at a 1.018 OPS. Everyone else is a question mark to some degree, and Altuve just became a bigger one.

The Astros will know more about the foot in the next day or two. If it is minor and he is back in the lineup by the weekend, this is a blip. If it lingers, Houston is trying to chase down a wild-card spot with a patchwork infield and a rotation already running on fumes.