Astros' Altuve: 'Not really happy' with performance in left field

Houston Astros All-Star Jose Altuve is feeling the growing pains during his transition from being a second baseman to playing left field.

"Obviously I'm not really happy about today or yesterday, but one thing I know for sure is when I want something to go my way, I'm going to do everything I can to do it," he said, according to Chandler Rome of The Athletic. "I think at the end of the day, I'm going to be playing good left field."

Altuve dropped his second fly ball in as many days Wednesday during a spring training game against the New York Mets.

The positional switch comes after an offseason full of change in Houston during which Alex Bregman signed with the Boston Red Sox and Kyle Tucker was traded to the Chicago Cubs. Altuve playing left field opens up an infield spot for Isaac Paredes, who came over in the Tucker trade.

The 34-year-old has started 1,749 career games at second base and never played an inning in the outfield at the major-league level.

"I've been in tough situations before and I overcame that," Altuve said. "I'm ready to go out there and play a good left field. I promise I'm going to keep working hard and be a great left fielder."

Altuve struggled defensively at second base in 2024, ranking in the third percentile for range and seventh percentile for arm strength.

The former AL MVP owns a career .831 OPS (129 OPS+).