Altuve Named 2012 N.L. All-Star

Major League Baseball announced Sunday that current Astros and former Hooks second baseman Jose Altuve has been named to the 2012 National League All-Star team as a reserve. The N.L. and American League starters and reserves were announced during a telecast on TBS.

Altuve, 22, is hitting .309 with 18 doubles, five home runs and 23 RBIs in 71 games entering today's contest. He currently leads all National League second baseman in batting average and hits. The 5-foot-5 Altuve has 30 multi-hit games this season, which ranks fourth.

Altuve is no stranger to All-Star Games, having played in the XM All-Star Futures Game last year, the South Atlantic League All-Star Game (Class A) in 2010 and the Appalachian League All-Star Game (Rookie Level) in 2009. Altuve is one of just nine players to make the Major League All-Star team one season after playing in the Futures Game, joining Adam Dunn, Neftali Feliz, Jason Heyward, Francisco Liriano, Evan Longoria, Ben Sheets, Geovany Soto and Mike Trout.

Named the Astros 2011 Minor League Player of the Year, Altuve rose quickly through the farm system after being signed as an amateur free agent out of Venezuela in 2006. He began last season at Class A Lexington before a promotion to Double-A Corpus Christi 52 games into the season. After a 35-game stint at Double-A (.361-5-25), Altuve had his contract purchased by Houston on July 19. He led all of minor league baseball with a .389 batting average in 2011.

The 2012 MLB All-Star Game will be played on Tuesday, July 10 at 7 p.m. (CDT) at Kauffman Stadium, home of the Kansas City Royals.