27 Jose Altuve 2B

Altuve went 1-for-4 with a walk and a three-run home run in Tuesday's 10-4 win over the Twins.

He took Tyler Duffey deep in the eighth inning to cap the scoring for Houston. Altuve has slowed down considerably at the plate, going 6-for-30 (.200) over the last eight games, but two of those hits have left the yard to give the second baseman nine homers on the year.

Altuve is not in Sunday's lineup against the Rangers, Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle reports.

He is hitting .345 with seven home runs and 14 strikeouts over his last 14 games, and will get some well-deserved rest in this one. Aledmys Diaz will start at the keystone, hitting seventh.

Altuve went 2-for-5 with a home run and three RBI in Friday's 7-2 win over the Rangers.

He went back-to-back with Alex Bregman in the first inning, giving Justin Verlander all the offense he would need. Altuve now has eight homers in 19 games to begin 2019 after smacking only 13 all of last year, but that power display has come at a price -- the 28-year-old has only stolen one base in two attempts so far.

Altuve went 2-for-4 with a solo home run in Saturday's 3-1 win over the Mariners.

He's now gone yard in five straight games, slugging six of his seven homers on the year with 11 RBI and nine runs over that stretch. Altuve hasn't been running much so far -- he has only on steal in two attempts over 15 games -- but you don't need to swipe bases when you can hit the ball over the fence and trot around them all. The 28-year-old now boasts a .333/.379/.717 slash line, and while that SLG will come down eventually, his batting average and OBP are right in line with his career norms.

Altuve went 2-for-5 with a grand slam in Friday's 10-6 win over the Mariners.

Altuve's sixth-inning granny was the type of clutch hit, with runners in scoring position, that has been rare for Houston's lineup early in the season. It comes as no surprise that it was Altuve who delivered the hit. No player is as dialed in as the six-time All Star who homered for the fourth straight game and is 10-for-21 with five homers, 10 RBI and eight runs scored over the last five.