Altuve (thumb) is taking live batting with Triple-A Sugar Land on Monday, Brian McTaggart of MLB.com reports.

EDGE Analysis

Altuve continues to get closer to returning to the field for the Astros and is not far away from starting a rehab stint. The infielder has missed the first month-plus of action with his broken right thumb, and it looks like he's going to make his return to the diamond more quickly than anticipated. There's a very good chance that Altuve is hitting at the top of the Houston lineup close to the middle of May.