2012 Fantasy Baseball Sleeper Second Baseman: Jose Altuve

Playing on a team that finished with a Major League worst 56-106 record doesn’t get many people noticed. Neither does a .276-26-2-12-7 line. That said, Houston Astros second baseman Jose Altuve is a player to at least keep an eye on.

His numbers obviously don’t come out and grab you, but if you projected the numbers out to a 162-game schedule he would finish with 74 runs, six HR, 34 RBI and 20 stolen bases. There isn’t much there in the power category, but he can be helpful in runs, stolen bases and possibly average.

His minor league numbers suggest that he can be useful in those categories. He hit .324 in the minors, and the .276 average in the bigs is pretty impressive considering he jumped Triple-A ball. He scored three runs for every four games he played and stole one base for every three games he played.

He will be turn 22 early in the season, and given the way he handled himself in his first taste of the majors, I think he could be a bench option at second base or a decent option for your middle infield slot.

What has me especially optimistic was his low BABIP for a player with his speed. It was just .309. He was at .438 in A-plus ball and at .373 for Double-A Corpus Christi. If he can get that number up even into the .340s his average, runs, and stolen bases are sure to climb.

Altuve has a Mock Draft Central ADP of 273, which puts him in the 23rd round of 12-team fantasy drafts. With the potential to hit .300 with 20-plus stolen bases, he’s not a bad option there.

Also check out:

2012 Fantasy Baseball First Base Rankings
2012 Fantasy Baseball Second Base Rankings
2012 Fantasy Baseball Third Base Rankings
2012 Fantasy Baseball Shortstop Rankings
2012 Fantasy Baseball Outfielder Rankings