Jose Altuve makes the jump to Houston

Less than two years after being named the team's Most Valuable Player in Greeneville, second baseman Jose Altuve will become the 11th Greeneville Astros player to make his Major League debut after being called up to the Houston Astros on Tuesday, July 19th.

The 21-year-old Altuve began this season in High-A Lancaster, where he hit .408 in 52 games before being called up to Double-A Corpus Christi. In 35 games there, he hit .361, and his combined batting average of .389 leads the Minor Leagues.

Altuve's combined stats on the season include 22 doubles, 10 triples, 10 homeruns, 59 RBI and 24 stolen bases. That led him to being a 2011 Futures Game selection earlier this month, a game in which he collected two hits.

After being signed as a non-drafted free agent in 2006, Altuve played one season in the Venezuelan Summer League before moving on to play in Greeneville. He played in Greeneville for all of 2008 and returned for his MVP season in 2009 before he was moved up to the Class A Tri-City ValleyCats at the end of the season.

At the time of his promotion in 2009, Altuve was leading the Appalachian League in stolen bases with 21, doubles with 20, extra base hits with 25 and runs scored with 45. For his efforts, he was named an Appalachian League All-Star.

In 2010, Altuve spent his first full season playing 94 games with the Low-A Lexington Legends, where he was selected as a South Atlantic League Mid-Season All-Star as well as a Post-Season All-Star. After receiving another late season promotion, he spent the final 31 games of the season with Lancaster before returning there to begin the 2011 season.

Altuve could make his MLB Debut as early as Wednesday afternoon, when the Astros host the Washington Nationals in a day game at Minute Maid Park.