Astros: Correa limited by lower back pain

Carlos Correa is in pain.

Every swing and miss hurts, and on the bad days it can even be uncomfortable for the Houston Astros shortstop to walk.

Correa often puts on a brave face but told The Associated Press how much this is affecting him as the Astros prepare to leave for Boston and the bestof-seven AL Championship Series that begins on Saturday.

“You’re a competitor so every time you step on the field you play it off like everything is fine,” he said Wednesday. “But obviously you’re hurting.”

Correa returned from a sixweek stint on the disabled list on Aug. 10 and declared that he was better. But he has struggled to regain his top form. He had a slash line of just .180/.261 /.256 in the second half of the season and managed a single hit — a home run — in the ALDS, looking nothing like the player who made the all-star team last season and was the 2015 rookie of the year.

He said it bothers him most at the plate, and it’s been impossible to get back to how he felt before the injury.

“Not only to find my swing, just to feel comfortable at the plate when I swing,” he said. “Because I know every time I swing and miss it’s going to hurt. So, I try not to swing and miss and then I try to baby my swing and I don’t swing as hard as I usually do or as quick as I usually do. So, it’s definitely been tough.”

Correa said there’s been a domino effect of pain in other areas, most notably in his obliques.

He’s receiving treatment “24/7,” but the pain remains. He’s using a foam roller at home and been sporadically taking anti-inflammatories.

“It’s just a pain down in my lower back that doesn’t let me move right,” he said. “When I bend over, when I rotate. Sometimes when I wake up and I walk in the morning, I know it’s not going to be a good day.”

In private moments at home with his fiancee Daniella Rodriguez, he laments that he simply hasn’t been himself this season.

“When I go to sleep at night, I think about especially this year (how) I’m not performing the way I know I can perform, it’s just been tough,” he said. “Sometimes I talk to Daniella and I’m like: ‘There’s nothing I can do about it. I’m hurting.’ But I’m a competitor so you grind, you try to perform.”

Correa started all three games of the ALDS and continues to play stellar defence. And though he was just 1-for-10 against Cleveland, his one hit was a three-run homer in the dclinching game.