Can Altuve reach Hall of Famers in Astros' record books?

This story was excerpted from Brian McTaggart’s Astros Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

HOUSTON -- Craig Biggio and Jeff Bagwell, a pair of Hall of Famers, are ranked first and second in many of the Astros’ all-time offensive charts -- including games played, at-bats, runs, hits, doubles, RBIs, extra-base hits, walks and strikeouts. Biggio is third, behind Bagwell and Lance Berkman, in home runs.

Slowly but surely, Jose Altuve is making his way up the charts, continuously reaching and surpassing milestones, such as swiping his 300th career base on Saturday. Only Cesar Cedeno (487) and Biggio (414) have more stolen bases with the Astros.

“It’s always good to get a milestone like that,” Altuve said. “I think we are in the wrong time to be thinking about stats, because we’re trying to win games and cover some of the ground we lost in the beginning. I’m very happy and thankful for this kind of stuff.”

Now that Altuve has signed a five-year contract extension that will keep him an Astros uniform through the 2029 season (he will turn 39 that year), let’s assess his chances of jumping ahead of Bagwell and Biggio on some of the team’s hitting records (Altuve’s numbers are entering Wednesday):

Games

1. Biggio, 2,850
2. Bagwell, 2,150
3. Jose Cruz, 1,870
4. Altuve, 1,703

Breaking it down: Catching Biggio, who played 20 years in Houston and was on the injured list only once, will be very difficult, if not impossible. Altuve will almost certainly pass Cruz and Bagwell in the next few years, but if he plays in 100 more games in 2024 and in every game from '25-29, he’ll still be 238 games shy of reaching Biggio’s total. Altuve would have to play into his 40s to catch Biggio.

Runs

1. Biggio, 1,844
2. Bagwell, 1,517
3. Altuve, 1,087

Breaking it down: Altuve had 1,062 runs scored entering this year, so averaging 100 runs from 2024-29 would put him at 1,687, with some work to do to catch Biggio. Altuve scored 103 runs in 2022 and 117 in ’21 -- his latest healthy seasons -- and he is off to a quick start this year, so don’t count him out. Still, it’s not likely.

Hits

1. Biggio, 3,060
2. Bagwell, 2,314
3. Altuve, 2,095

Breaking it down: When Altuve signed his extension to basically spend his whole career in Houston, it gave him a legitimate shot to join Biggio and get 3,000 hits with the Astros. It’s very possible. He’d have to average 158 hits from 2024-29 to get there. Altuve entered Wednesday leading the AL with 48 hits.

Doubles

1. Biggio, 668
2. Bagwell, 488
3. Altuve, 409

Breaking it down: Biggio had the most doubles by any right-handed hitter in history when he retired, a mark that’s since been passed by Albert Pujols. It would take some heavy lifting -- and maybe another year or two tacked onto Altuve’s contract -- but he has an outside shot of catching Biggio. He’ll likely fly past Bagwell in the next couple of years.

Stolen bases

1. Cedeno, 487
2. Biggio, 414
3. Altuve, 300

Breaking it down: Altuve has been running more over the past three years (2022-24) than he did the previous three seasons, but amassing 187 more steals and catching Cedeno would be an average of nearly 32 per season. He could catch Biggio, though, if he averaged 21 steals from 2024-29.