Scene: FITTEAM Ballpark of the Palm Beaches, Spring Training. 23-year-old Houston Astros outfield prospect Myles Straw approaches the storied major leaguer with trepidation. Heart pounding, knees wobbly, he cautiously inches toward the 5’5″, 160-pound second baseman, all but towering over him at a mere 5’10” but 20 pounds heavier.

While it might not have been this melodramatic, if you were a talented and promising minor leaguer (who was cut as a freshman from his high school team), spitting out your first words to reigning American League MVP and three-time batting champ Jose Altuve might just leave you with pterodactyl-sized butterflies in your stomach.

“It [was] a little uncomfortable,” Straw told theScore recently, on easily fitting in with the reigning World Champions. “You’re kind of shy and you don’t really know anybody, but after the first couple days, [the veterans] come talk to you, introduce themselves, and they make you comfortable,” he said. “I’ve probably talked to pretty much everybody here. I’m not scared to go up and ask these guys questions [now]. It makes it a little easier and enjoyable.”

Related: Myles Straw Proves Combustible at Lower Levels

Straw, in 12 spring plate appearances, hit .273, with a double and a stolen base. With a walk and two Ks, he earned a .333 OBP and a .364 slugging percentage.

Reassigned to the Astros’ minor league camp March 7, Straw set about, during his time in big league camp, doing his best to leave an impression on Houston’s front office and coaching staff. A bonus opportunity arose when the right-handed hitter had the chance to capitalize on meaningful discussions with some of the best baseball brains in MLB.

Related: Promoting Myles Straw Before Kyle Tucker? Why It Makes Sense

The Altuve-Straw Summit

During his first week in camp, Straw met with Altuve, a meeting that has the potential to change the career path of the former 2015 12th-round pick out of St. Johns River State College in Florida, following his sophomore season.

“If I want anyone telling me what to do it’s probably that guy. I think he knows a thing or two about hitting,” Straw, who grew up in the shadow of Garden Grove’s (CA) Crystal Cathedral, said. “He was talking to me about my seasons and we went over the numbers. He told me, ‘You want to hit more home runs than doubles.’ He said my on-base numbers were there; I’m good enough, I’m quick enough.

“He was telling me, ‘I used to have no power,’ and then, he said, he talked to guys like Miguel Cabrera, and they told him he has more in the tank and can be better,” Straw said, eager to share his time with Altuve to anyone who would listen. “He told me it’s not hard to hit 10 good balls in the air out of the ballpark a year. For me, it meant a lot.”

Straw, you see, owns only two long balls in his first three pro seasons, after 272 games, mostly at various single A locations (13 of those games last season at Double-A Corpus Christi, where he’ll start 2018).

Altuve, one might argue, could have spent his time more propitiously with looming Astro bombers like AJ Reed, JD Davis or Tyler White, and while they all would have eyed a bat, no one would have batted an eye.

Straw’s entrée into the major leagues (before the Altuve confab) was to have been his speed and enviable ability to control the strike zone. That approach led him to a .290/.405/.360 slash line with 17 doubles through 127 games last season. Of course, that speed and high contact rate won’t be going anywhere; one, now, might have to look over the fence for Straw’s hits, and not just all the way to the wall.

Integrating His Info

“I think everybody wants to hit home runs,” Straw continued. “I think [the Yankees’] Giancarlo Stanton wants to hit more home runs. That should be obvious for everybody.

“[Altuve] was telling me that if you hit 10 home runs, then you’re good, because regardless of how many home runs I’m going to hit I’m going to get on base. I am going to steal bases. That’s kind of what he was saying. You don’t want to get away from your on-base percentage but you want to slug higher. With a .400 on-base percentage you can slug around .900.”

Straw Vote: State of the Astros’ Union

“We have a really good organization from the bottom up and everyone pushes each other,” he explained. “It’s a big brotherhood here. Everyone wants each other to do well. At the same time, we’re all fighting for a spot. We just have fun with it; there’s no hatred toward everyone.”

Straw, of course, has every intention of taking everything he’s learning this spring and incorporating it into his coming season, which will undoubtedly include a promotion to AAA Fresno mid-year. “You want to build yourself to be a major league player, not a Double-A player. This year, I will take it a little bit more seriously, going to get stronger, work on driving the ball more, and we’ll see how it goes.”

It will be fun following the 2018 season of “The Say Hay Kid,” and while his eventual MLB debut may be a couple years away, Jose Altuve can always feel a sense of pride in having a hand in whatever success Straw enjoys.

After all, the prospect knows the MVP will be watching.

Related: Astros Uncovered: System-Wide Power Focus “Enforced With All Hitters” where Straw talks about his good friend Kyle Tucker and his minor league progress, and Altuve’s swing is analyzed.