If there is one pro-athlete who is making Venezuelans, and indeed Latinos proud, it is Jose Altuve. Altuve is a professional baseball player who plays for the Houston Astros in the MLB. Initially dismissed as too short to play baseball, he has risen to become one of the best players the league has ever seen. The second baseman has received numerous individual honours and in 2017; he won the World Series Championship with the Houston Astros.

Jose Altuve’s Bio (Age)

Jose Carlos Altuve was born on the 6^th of May 1990 in Maracay, Venezuela. His father’s name is Carlos while his mother’s name is Lastenia Linares. He also has a brother named Carlos. Altuve grew up in Venezuela and began playing baseball at a very early age. He became quite skilled in the sport and at the age of 16, attended a try-out camp organised by the Houston Astros in his hometown. Initially, the camp managers refused to give him a chance due to the fact that he was short as well as the belief that he was lying about his real age. Altuve, however, refused to give up and returned the next day, armed with his birth certificate as well as fresh confidence. The team scouts relented and allowed him to take part in a preliminary evaluation. He gave an awesome performance and was soon offered a rookie contract.

Career

Jose Altuve spent the next five years (2008 – 2011) playing for various minor league sides including The Greenville Astros, The Tri-City Valleycats, Lexington Legends, and Corpus Christi Hooks. The Venezuelan national finally made his MLB debut on the 19^th of July 2011. Since then, he has recorded several incredible stats including the highest batting average in the MLB in 2014, 2016 and 2017.  Altuve has also been named an MLB All-star at least six times and in 2017, he won the highly-coveted World Series trophy with his teammates.

Off the pitch, Jose Altuve is an incredible human being and is renowned for his philanthropic spirit. He made impressive contributions to relief efforts in Houston following the devastation of Hurricane Harvey. These contributions, as well as the fact that he won the 2017 World Series, earned him Sports Illustrated Sportsperson of the year award.

Wife and Family

The Houston Astros player is married to his high school sweetheart, Nina Altuve. Nina (full name – Giannina Elizabeth Cimetta Sandoval) was born on the 2^nd of February 1992 in Venezuela. She holds a degree in bioanalytics from the University of Carabobo, Venezuela. Altuve and Nina commenced their lovely relationship while they were both in high school and tied the knot on the 20^th of November 2006. At the time of the wedding, the bride was 14 while Altuve himself was just 16. Despite getting married at such a young age, the couple has been able to make their union work and celebrated a decade of togetherness in 2016. Jose Altuve and his wife have one daughter together. Her name is Melanie Andrea Altuve and she was born in October 2016. The second baseman is quite proud of his family and often shares their pictures on his Instagram page.

Height and Weight

Jose Altuve is 5 feet 6 inches (1.68 m) tall and his weight is given as 165 lbs or 75 kg. The Astros star is one of the shortest players in the MLB; a fact that has generated memes and even a simple web-based calculator known as the official standard listed altuves. During the commencement of his career, Altuve’s diminutive stature was an obstacle as many questioned whether he would really be a great player. The young man, however, refused to be discouraged and trained hard to improve his reflexes and hand-eye coordination. He took to cardio, agility training, and heavy workouts; and also learned how to eat right. Additionally, Altuve worked with his coach to improve his pitch recognition, strike zone discipline and the way he handled off-speed pitches. All of this hard work has paid off as he has gone on to become one of the best players in the MLB.

Salary and Net Worth – How Rich is Jose Altuve?

Since signing with the Astros in 2008, Altuve has witnessed a steady progression in the size of his paychecks. From a rookie salary of $15,000 in 2008; the second baseman earned $4.5 million in 2017, $17 million in 2018 and $16.5 million in 2019. These figures are still expected to rise significantly as he and The Astros agreed on a contract extension worth a whopping $151 million. Under the terms of the contract extension, which was signed in March 2018, Jose Altuve will earn at least $26 million per annum from 2020 to 2024. This will definitely improve his overall net worth which currently stands at $10 million.