Sports Illustrated may not have been so far-fetched to believe that the Houston Astros would be World Series Champions by 2017. The Astros have the 2nd best record in the American League as of June 29th, sitting at 44-34 and 4 games ahead of the 2nd place Angels in the AL West. Their success can be attributed to a plethora of components, including having the 4th best reliever ERA in the Majors at 2.60, having a legit ace in Dallas Keuchel who currently holds a 9-3 record with a 0.96 WHIP, and a core nucleus of offensive talent in Jose Altuve, George Springer, Jason Castro, Luis Valbuena, and Evan Gattis.
There’s one more component that needs to be added to this list however, a player that wasn’t even on the opening day roster for the Astros to begin the 2015 season. Carlos Correa, the 20-year old phenom has been nothing short of brilliant since his call-up on June 8th. In twenty games played, Correa has compiled a .314 batting average, with an OPS of .930, 5 home runs and fifteen RBI. Of his twenty-seven hits, fourteen of them have been for extra base hits, which is why is SLG is a whopping .593! Correa has also been impressive in field, making only 1 error in seventy-seven putout chances, good for a .987 fielding percentage. For reference, the league average fielding percentage for shortstop is .967.
Correa has been a highly touted prospect since he was drafted first overall in 2012. Correa played in only 282 games in the minor leagues, compiling a .313 batting average, .883 OPS, 346 hits and 199 RBI. His quick ascension through the ranks prompted a call-up from the Astros, who lost Jed Lowrie to the DL on April 28th to a torn ligament in his thumb. Marwin Gonzalez was not getting the job done, hitting .238 with an OPS of .649 as a fill in for Lowrie. Jonathan Villar was equally as average, and optioned to Triple A on June 9th. Astros management felt that the best option to continue their playoff push was to bring up their number one prospect to take the reigns at least until Lowrie comes back. Now, Correa has established himself as Major League ready, and quite possibly the next great superstar in the Major Leagues.
For fun comparison, in Mike Trout’s 2011 season in which he played in forty games, he hit .220 with an OPS of .672, 5 home runs and sixteen RBI. In 1995, when Alex Rodriguez was a twenty-year old with the Seattle Mariners, he hit .232 in forty-eight games, with a .672 OPS, 5 home runs, and 19 RBI. Hall of Famer Cal Ripken Jr. in twenty-three games in 1981 hit .128, with an OPS 0f .278, and goose eggs in both home runs and RBI. Troy Tulowitzki, a comparable shortstop to the 6’4″ Correa, hit .240, with an OPS of .609, 1 home run and 6 RBI in twenty-five games played. While these are extremely small sample sizes, to witness the numbers Correa is putting up at twenty-years old against the best competition is impressive, especially when you compare them to those of his counterparts that went on to have legendary and in some cases Hall of Fame careers.
The Astros have a bright future ahead of them, with their young nucleus of pitching and offensive talent. Their minor league system is still ranked in the top half of baseball at 14th per Baseball America heading into the 2015 season. The Astros are 22-16 against their division, a winning trend they’ll need to continue if they want to contend for a playoff spot this season. They have 38 games remaining against their division rivals, including 24 games in September. Carlos Correa will play a major part in the Astros success, and his five tool talent will be a difference maker that I believe will lead the Astros to their first playoff berth since their World Series loss against the Chicago White Sox in 2005.
