Jose Altuve has been a mainstay at second base for the Houston Astros since 2012, his second season in the major leagues.
Altuve’s career stats have inspired several pundits to label him a future Hall of Famer. He currently has 2,232 hits to his credit, and he’s still only 34 years old. The odds seem to favor his eventual admission to the prestigious 3,000-hit club.
Altuve’s resumé also features an American League Most Valuable Player Award (2017), three batting crowns (2014, 2016, and 2017), and four seasons with 200 hits or more (2014-2017).
It’s true that all of these individual honors predate the 2020s, but Altuve remains an excellent player. He topped all big-league second basemen in overall base value during the past half-decade (2020-2024).
OBV is a basic measurement of a player’s productivity at the plate. A positive OBV indicates that a batter reached more bases (through hits, walks, hit batters, stolen bases, and sacrifices) than a typical hitter would have attained under the same circumstances.
Today’s rankings are confined to big leaguers who made at least 1,400 plate appearances between 2020 and 2024 — and who spent more than 50 percent of that time as second basemen.
Altuve tops the OBV list at plus-265, followed by Ketel Marte of the Arizona Diamondbacks at plus-230, Brandon Lowe of the Tampa Bay Rays at plus-172, and Marcus Semien of three clubs (Oakland A’s, Toronto Blue Jays, and Texas Rangers) at plus-171.
Scroll down to see the half-decade’s 10 best second basemen in the OBV rankings. Each is followed by parenthetical stats for 2020-2024 — games, home runs, runs batted in, and batting average — capped by his overall base value.
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1. Jose Altuve (G 578, HR 101, RBI 274, BA .288) — OBV +265
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2. Ketel Marte (G 558, HR 89, RBI 296, BA .279) — OBV +230
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3. Brandon Lowe (G 486, HR 103, RBI 287, BA .242) — OBV +172
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4. Marcus Semien (G 697, HR 130, RBI 382, BA .254) — OBV +171
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5. Jonathan India (G 523, HR 63, RBI 229, BA .253) — OBV +121
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6. Ozzie Albies (G 496, HR 87, RBI 322, BA .263) — OBV +120
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7. Jorge Polanco (G 509, HR 83, RBI 266, BA .246) — OBV +50
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8. Jake Cronenworth (G 646, HR 69, RBI 310, BA .247) — OBV +49
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9. Luis Arraez (G 594, HR 24, RBI 219, BA .321) — OBV +44
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10. Andres Gimenez (G 568, HR 49, RBI 222, BA .261) — OBV +42
