What Jose Altuve’s thumb injury means to the Houston Astros

  It's something nobody ever wants to see in a baseball game. Daniel Bard lost control of his fastball and it beamed Jose Altuve square on the hand. Altuve hit the ground writhing in pain and was subsequently walked off the field by a doctor during the WBC game between Venezuela and the United States.

 The incident was a microcosm of Bard's disastrous performance in which he recorded no outs and allowed four earned runs. One that will unfortunately keep the Astros leadoff man and face of the franchise out of action for several months. Altuve was doing s great job being the table-setter for Venezuela, posting a .450 OBP for his home country.

 There was no diagnosis immediately, but it was speculated by Ken Rosenthal that Altuve had suffered a broken right thumb.

This morning's update:

  There is no exact timetable, but Bob Nightengale reported Altuve's absence could be anywhere from 8-10 weeks. The Astros official update stated he suffered "a right thumb fracture, and will undergo surgery in the coming days."

What does it mean for the Astros?

 The Astros will now look to lean on utility infielder David Hensley and Mauricio Dubon to fill in while Altuve recovers. Both have experience playing second base, and Dusty Baker has experimented in the past having Dubon at leadoff. Hensley in limited major league appearances last year showed promise at the plate, slashing .345 / .441 /.586 in sixteen games. Dubon, 28 years old is the more experienced of the two.

 They may not be able to replace Altuve's ability to jumpstart the offense, but a collaborative effort from the team as a whole could help mitigate the loss. Yordan Alvarez who was dealing with hand soreness, is in line to get spring training action next week. Kyle Tucker is having a fantastic WBC tournament. Then there's Alex Bregman and Jose Abreu to deal with. Michael Brantley may not be ready for opening day, but he should be a few weeks after.

 This is an Astros team that has seen all kinds of adversity and come out on the other side of it a stronger unit. They went to game 7 of the 2020 ALCS without Yordan Alvarez or Justin Verlander. Lost Michael Brantley midseason last year. Any time you lose a superstar with a .921 OPS and .300 average, it's a massive loss. As disheartening as the incident was, this Astros lineup is built to weather the storm.