Altuve on eighth MLB All-Star Game selection: 'It feels like the first one'

Houston Astros second baseman Jose Altuve was selected on Friday to play in the 2022 Major League Baseball (MLB) All-Star at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles on Tuesday, July 19, the team announced on its website.

According to the report, the 32-year-old Altuve will be starting for the American League (AL) All-Stars for the fifth time. 

The veteran infielder beat the Toronto Blue Jays’ Santiago Espinal with 57% of the vote, per the Astros.

In his 12th season in Houston, Altuve is batting .280 with 17 home runs (HR) and 32 runs batted in (RBI) to his name, good enough to lead all AL second basemen, according to Baseball Reference.

He also leads his position in on-base plus slugging (OPS) with .907, the report said.

Altuve isn’t the only Astros representative at the upcoming Midsummer Classic as the AL will be managed by his skipper Dusty Baker, the team said.

The report said that Altuve is “really happy” for the selection.

"I'm thankful for my family, teammates, the people of Houston and every single fan that made this dream come true,” he said in the report. “It's No. 8, but it feels like the first one."

Designated hitter (DH) Yordan Alvarez was the other Astros player who was a finalist in fan voting but lost to his counterpart on the Los Angeles Angels, Shohei Ohtani.

Houston CBS affiliate KHOU reported that the 5-foot-6 Altuve’s eight total All-Star Game appearances – his first selection came during the Astros’ final season in the National League (NL) in 2012 – are a team record.

Altuve, who’s essentially the Astros’ elder statesman, will play at the ballpark that was the site of the Astros’ 2017 World Series triumph.

As of Friday, the Astros are 55-28 and have a firm grip on the AL West.