Astros' José Altuve to Begin Rehab Assignment amid Thumb Injury Recovery

As the Houston Astros' offense continues to search for consistency this season, there is good news on the horizon.

The reigning World Series champs announced José Altuve will begin a rehab assignment with Triple-A Sugar Land on Friday night.

Altuve has been out of action since suffering a fractured thumb when he was hit by a pitch in Venezuela's 9-7 loss to the United States in the World Baseball Classic on March 18.

Astros general manager Dana Brown announced Altuve had surgery on March 22 with an estimated timetable of two months to resume baseball activities.

"Some guys heal faster than other guys, and he seems to be one of those guys," Brown said. "After that, we'll assess and hopefully he's coming along well. It looks like it's going to be about two months."

There was a growing sense of optimism within the organization that Altuve might be able to return sooner than the initial estimates.

Brown told Jim Bowden of The Athletic and CBS Sports HQ on April 23 Altuve was "ahead of schedule" with "great movement" and flexibility in his thumb, and he would have an X-ray within the next two weeks to see how it was healing.

It's unclear how many games in the minors Altuve will need before getting called up, but this is certainly good news for the Astros. They currently rank in the bottom 10 in MLB in batting average (.238), on-base percentage (.306) and slugging percentage (.366).

Mauricio Dubón, who has filled in at second base so far this season, is hitting .287/.306/.357 with no homers and six RBI in 129 at-bats.

Altuve had one of the best seasons of his career in 2022. The eight-time All-Star hit .300/.387/.533 with 28 homers and 18 stolen bases in 527 at-bats. His .921 OPS was his highest in a single season since his AL MVP campaign in 2017 (.957).

The Astros are in third place in the American League West with a 19-18 record. They will begin a three-game series against the Chicago White Sox at Guaranteed Rate Field before starting a six-game homestand next week against the Chicago Cubs and Oakland Athletics.