PIVOTAL MOMENTS
Constantly out to improve, Carlos Correa and Jose Altuve have turned their attention to quicker double plays
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — The first sound you hear every day is the crack.
Wood blasting baseballs. Hitters waking up, constantly connecting in cages, as the sun begins to rise above Fitteam Ballpark of the Palm Beaches.
The next sound is much lighter and more distant. You have to walk past the huge Astros H and orange star, then head toward the practice fields to even hear it. But there it is, like clockwork daily, starting at 8:15 a.m.
Voices. Sprinting, shuffling feet. A ball driven into turf. A glove collapsing seconds later.
The 2017 American League MVP and 2015 AL Rookie of the Year putting in real work, just a week into spring training.
“We had a great offensive season last year. We look at everything, and we’re like, ‘What can we improve in 2018?’ ” said Carlos Correa, minutes after another early-morning defensive workout with Jose Altuve. “Obviously, we want to hit more. But we want to get better at defense, and the only way to do that is to do what we’re doing.”
And so they dart and pivot, turn
and fire, going through motion after motion as new bench coach Joe Espada pushes two of the Astros’ biggest names to be even sharper in 2018.
“You think, ‘This guy has a lot of respect for me.’ So what should I do? Have a lot of respect for him,” Altuve said. “And if he’s taking his time to work something for me, my job is do everything I can to get better.”
If you love baseball, it’s easy to turn spring training into poetry. Sunshine, blue skies and open fields. Renewal, rebirth and the return of the sport that really should never go away.
It’s also easy to over-romanticize simple things that end up meaning nothing. The prospect who shines, then never again looks as promising. The team that teases for a month, then struggles to even be relevant in September.
But Altuve and Correa sweating off the winter every morning at the same time, as the sun slowly climbs higher and the darkness burns away?
I doubt that watching a couple of well-paid Astros take grounders in late February has ever looked so good.
Attention to detail
“I like how much attention to detail they have,” manager A.J. Hinch said. “They’re self-driven. … It’s a luxury to have your great players be as driven as they are.”
Until the Astros prove it again in 2018, you’re going to have to endure the questions. How will the World Series winners handle life as baseball’s champs? Will this year’s Astros be last year’s Cubs? No team has repeated since the Yankees won three straight titles from 1998 to 2000. (OK. That last one isn’t a question, but I’m already tired of hearing it.)
Altuve and Correa trying to fine-tune their double-play combination won’t make any of the Q’s go away. But there’s also no way around it: It’s an encouraging sight for a franchise that has “potential dynasty” written all over it.
“It doesn’t stop here. It’s not the end of the world because you won a championship,” Correa said. “When I talk to Altuve, him and I, we still have so much to accomplish, and we want to get there. So in order for us to do that, we’ve got to work.”
From A’s to Astros
Hinch and Espada were both drafted by Oakland in 1996. After Alex Cora became the manager of the team the Astros beat in the 2017 AL Division Series, Hinch ended up hiring the third-base coach of the team the Astros beat in the AL Championship Series — and a friend he’d long been connected with. Just three games into spring training, Espada has already reached two of the Astros’ biggest and hardest-working stars.
“He and I already have a rapport. We have a long history together, so that part is always nice for me,” Hinch said. “But his content is his best attribute, and I’m seeing it firsthand in the early parts of spring that he can get players to buy in, he can get players to respond.”
Smoother exchanges near second base. Minor mechanical improvements for Correa. Shaving a half-second off a throw to cut down a runner by a couple steps. The Astros’ second baseman and shortstop are embracing it all this spring.
“We want to be the best at that, turning double plays. It’s really important in this game, especially when pitchers need it,” said Correa, who added that he wants to improve his defensive runs saved stat. “Those are key plays that can change the whole game. If we can get a guy by half a step, it’s really important to get those two outs. We’ve been working really hard on that.”
And so they start in the early morning light while the rest of Florida is still beginning the day.
Altuve and Correa. Two world champs, trying to discover an extra second. Spring poetry for the Astros.