MLB Game Preview - Houston at LA Angels

Sat Aug 26, 2017 9:07 PM EDT

ANAHEIM, Calif. -- Nothing against Marwin Gonzalez, but when fans of the Houston Astros first glanced at Friday night's starting lineup for their game against the Los Angeles Angels, their collective heart likely skipped a beat.

Gonzalez was listed as the second baseman, and Jose Altuve's name was nowhere to be found.

Altuve was not in the starting lineup because of a sore neck, something that forced him out of Thursday's game in the sixth inning after taking a swing.

Altuve is listed as day to day and so his status for Saturday's game against the Angels is unknown. And that's good news for the Angels.

"He's still having a little bit of symptoms with his neck, so he's not going to play until we feel like he's not going to irritate it anymore," Astros manager A.J. Hinch, told reporters Friday. "We'll see (about Saturday). I don't want to rule it out. But I don't want to guarantee it, either."

Altuve has a .358 career batting average against Los Angeles, with a .912 OPS. And it doesn't seem where he bats in the lineup -- leadoff, second, third -- just as long as he's in it.

Of course, the Angels really are no different from the rest of the league. Altuve, who finished third in the American League MVP voting last season, is a candidate again this year.

He won the AL batting title last season and leads the title race by nearly 20 points, currently hitting .357. He also leads the league with 273 total bases and 29 stolen bases, and leads the majors with 173 hits, on a pace to surpass his major league-leading best total of 216 last year.

A big part of his success seems to be his drive to improve, no matter how well he's done in the past.

"The thing about him that's so impressive is that he won the batting title last year and he told (teammate Carlos) Beltran when they (first) went out to eat, 'How do I get better?'" Astros outfielder George Springer told the Houston Chronicle. "It's hard to tell somebody who just led all of (baseball) in hitting how you get better.

"His desire to get better and his desire to improve in all aspects of his game ... he's a team player. He wants to be successful for the team and it's not ever about him. It's impressive and it's very, very honorable and very admirable as a teammate to see him do what he does."

Angels starter Tyler Skaggs certainly won't fret if Altuve is not in the lineup Saturday -- Altuve is hitting .444 (4-for-9) against him.

Outside of Altuve, Skaggs has done pretty well against some of the bigger Astros hitters in limited matchups, like Springer (0-for-5) and Carlos Correa (1-for-6), though Correa is on the disabled list.

Skaggs, though, will have to be better than he has been lately - he has lost his last three decisions and hasn't won since returning to the rotation after missing three months with a strained oblique.

"He's not that far off, but he can get better, no doubt," Angels manager Mike Scioscia said. "He's going to work hard and get there. We have a lot of confidence in him, but right now he's still kind of getting into his season and trying to re-establish everything he needs to do. He'll be important for us down the stretch."

Brad Peacock, who will start for the Astros, is 3-2 with a 5.15 ERA in nine career games (six starts) against the Angels.