2026 Projections: Jose Altuve and Nick Allen

Altuve goes back to the future, while Nick Allen may have just become a more important piece of the puzzle

Jose Altuve

In some ways, I’m projecting a renaissance season from Jose Altuve in 2026; in others, not so much.

I expect Altuve’s batting average to take a jump, but his power numbers, specifically home runs, to decrease as he enters his age 36 season.

Altuve has played in 308 games over the last two seasons and wants to keep a similar pace this year, perhaps to bolster his odds of reaching 3,000 hits (he needs 612) before his contract expires.

I expect he will see a large number of breaking pitches, and how he performs against them may be the telltale.

I project Altuve to the same 156 hits that he had last season, keeping the drive for 3,000 alive.

Simple math says Altuve would need to average 153 hits over the next four seasons to hit the magic number so any missed time over say 7 days would be a serious blow to that endeavor.

Summary: Altuve’s offense projects to a 3.5-4.0 fWAR, but that number is impacted by a declining defensive profile, and without Mauricio Dubon to spell him late in games, the potential is there for a larger negative impact.

Nick Allen

A couple of days ago, I felt a little foolish projecting this much playing time for Allen, but certain events have once again taught me to use history and actual performance as my guide (Jeremy Pena fractured his finger).

That event doesn’t necessarily mean that Allen will see this many plate appearances, but it certainly increases the possibility.

Believe it or not, these are optimistic projections - my model weights the most recent seasons more heavily than the more distant.

Summary: Allen projects as a low-impact bench piece or defensive specialist — a utility infielder who plays solid D at 2B/SS, adds a bit of speed, but provides almost no offensive spark.

If Allen sees 300 plate appearances, the Astros are likely in trouble.

Projections to Date

Coming Wednesday, Yordan Alvarez and Zach Cole.

As always, thanks for reading!