Altuve feeling 'slowly better' in LF despite 1st error

Jose Altuve said he's seeing signs of growth in his play in left field despite making his first error of the season in Saturday's 6-1 loss to the Minnesota Twins.

Altuve was charged with a fielding error when he bobbled the ball on Ty France's single, allowing Byron Buxton to score.

(Video source: MLB.com)

"We're putting in a lot of work, and we're working on everything now: fly balls, line drives, groundballs," Altuve said postgame, according to Chandler Rome of The Athletic. "I'm feeling slowly better out there. You can tell by the way I've been catching fly balls. I think at the end, we're going to keep working and keep getting better."

The Astros moved Altuve to left field after he spent the first 14 seasons of his career at second base, winning a Gold Glove in 2015.

"The routes and the fly balls, the tracking, the whole entire thing, he's looking more comfortable and comfortable every day," Astros manager Joe Espada said.

However, Altuve had a productive day at the plate, registering three hits in five at-bats, including a lead-off home run in the first inning.