Correa shares milestone
Shortstop makes sure to include his father in celebrating 100th home run of his career
OAKLAND, Calif. — Five minutes before the Astros’ clubhouse opened to reporters, Carlos Correa disappeared into a narrow hallway in the bowels of Oakland Coliseum to telephone his father. A smile slid across the shortstop’s face.
Not until Correa scrolled through his social media accounts after Thursday’s 8-7 loss did he realize his milestone. The shortstop slugged the 100th homerun of his career in the seventh inning. His first call had to be with his dad.
“He was crying,” Correa said. “There was a lot of work put into where we are right now. Itwas an emotional moment. Very special.”
Among major league shortstops, only Alex Rodriguez and Cal Ripken Jr. accrued 100 home
runs before turning 25. At 24 years and 381 days, Correa joined this elite company.
If not for the countless injuries that have marred his career, Correa certainly would have crossed this threshold sooner. A massage gone awry caused him to miss 50 games this season with a fractured rib.
Since his return July 26, Correa is slugging .667. He entered Friday night’s game against the Athletics with 19 hits since his return. Eleven had garnered extra bases, including eight home runs. Two were tattooed on Thursday, part of a record- setting 10 home run display at the Coliseum.
“I’ve felt great at the plate,” Correa said. “I feel like my pitch selection has been great. When I have that down, everything works right. When you swing at good pitches, only good things can happen.”
In Correa’s absence, rookie Yordan Alvarez arrived and Yuli Gurriel became baseball’s hottest hitter. Manager A. J. Hinch wanted the top four of his order to remain unchanged. Correa slid to sixth.
“Whatever the manager thinks is the best spot for me to help the team, I’ll be happy with it,” Correa said. “I’m only sixth when the game starts, but after that I lead off innings. I hit third in innings. It doesn’t really affect me. All I can control is performing and helping my teammates.”
Pitch selection seems at the root of Correa’s resurgent return. He has coaxed 11walks and struck out 17 times in 81 plate appearances since coming off the injured list. Correa drew just 20 walks in the 214 plate appearances that preceded it.
Statcast says Correa’s 27.8 percent chase rate remains around his career average. So, too, does his overall swing percentage — 44.5. Correa ascribes the change to a slight tweak with his setup.
Correa is starting his load and swing earlier, allowing him more time to recognize and identify the pitch he is about to see.
“(I have) a better rhythm when I’m hitting,” Correa said. “I’m starting earlier with my load in order for me to identify the ball better. I think that’s key. Obviously when you’re late, you rush and don’t have as much time to see the ball.”
The selectiveness serves Correa well during subpar outings. Earlier in his career, Correa chased hits to get out of ruts. It forced him outside the strike zone and created uncompetitive at-bats.
“The other day in Chicago, my swing didn’t feel good at all,” he said, referring to Wednesday afternoon’s 13-9 loss to the White Sox.
“Instead of going 0-for-5, I went 1-for-2 with three walks. The OPS stays the same. You build off that, all of a sudden you get to Oakland, find your swing and go off again.”