New face of game?
Astros rookie Carlos Correa makes immediate impact with great talent, multicultural appeal,
A little more than two months into his major league career, Carlos Correa has been hailed as baseball’s top all-around shortstop, the up-and-coming face of the game and the biggest sports figure in his native Puerto Rico.
The Houston Astros rookie shies away from none of it.
“Ever since I signed, I’ve wanted to do great things in baseball,” Correa told USA TODAY Sports in Spanish. “Now that I’m here in the big leagues, that’s one of my goals, to be one of the faces of the game. That’s what you work for every day. This is the toughest sport, one that requires a daily grind. With that work, you hope that in due time you realize those kinds of goals.”
Correa, 20, has been preparing for this stage since he was an 8year-old helping his father carry tools to his construction job, and he might possess just the right combination of skills to handle the demands of widespread fame in the digital age.
Correa is bilingual and cooperative with members of the traditional news media. He tweets positive, uncontroversial messages and photos in English and Spanish. He comes with an appealing back story as the son of a working-class family who toiled until becoming the first Puerto Rican drafted No. 1 overall.
Baseball certainly has accomplished, compelling players who have picked up the mantle from retired Derek Jeter, with Mike Trout and Bryce Harper most prominent among them. What makes Correa particularly marketable is the multicultural dimension he brings, along with a willingness to play the role.
For a $9 billion industry looking to regain the interest of young audiences in a country with an increasingly growing Latino presence, that’s like finding the last Coke in the desert, as they say in Correa’s homeland.
“He knows he’s going to be around for a long time and his brand is an important part of his future, and he does it very wisely,” Astros general manager Jeff Luhnow said of Correa’s ability to interact with fans through social media. “And he does connect with people from various cultures. I think that’s important because this is such a multicultural game.”
Frankie Higginbotham, who serves as Correa’s marketing representative, says he’s weighing more than 20 offers for endorsements and other endeavors. Correa has a contract with Nike that expires during the offseason, and with the potential platform of postseason play — the Astros lead the American League West — Correa could be a desired free agent.
But such business matters will have to wait; Correa’s focus is clearly affixed to the field. Since making his debut June 8, he has become the first shortstop in more than a century to hit 14 home runs in 51 games, evoking comparisons to Alex Rodriguez and Troy Tulowitzki. Correa leads all AL shortstops in homers, on-base-plus-slugging percentage be with us,” manager A.J. Hinch said. “And when I told the team he was coming up, there was a lot of happiness and a lot of hope for the influence he could have.”
As the youngest position player in the big leagues, Correa still has plenty to learn, such as the increased responsibility his position carries in the majors and the cat-and-mouse game with pitch-- his father, also named Carlos.
When Correa was around 12 or 14, he started fixing houses with his dad, plastering and carrying cement blocks.
“He wanted me to grow up at a young age,” said Correa, the oldest of three siblings. “While other kids were playing video games or hide-and-go-seek, I was working construction with my dad and spending time with older guys. That helped me grow up quick.”
He also has grown physically, adding 30 solid pounds to his 6-4 frame, from 185 when he signed as a 17-year-old in 2012 to his current 215. That accounts for some of the power surge, although Correa admits to being a bit surprised by his home run output.
The weight gain has come gradually as part of Correa’s master plan to move quickly up the ladder to the big leagues. His arrival might have come sooner were it not for a broken ankle and fibula incurred on a slide during a Class A game in June 2014, wiping out the rest of his season.
So Correa works to refine the rough edges, with drills to counter pitchers’ attempts to jam him or get him to chase pitches out of the strike zone. He also relies on an abundant confidence that was evident during the Astros’ one-week stay in the Bay Area, playing four games against the Oakland Athletics before a two-game series vs. the San Francisco Giants.
Invited to dinner at the home of Hall of Famer and former Giants great Orlando Cepeda, Correa noticed the plaque his fellow Puerto Rican earned for being named the National League MVP with the St. Louis Cardinals in 1967 and told him, “I’m going to have one of those, too.”
Correa tweeted a photo of himself next to Cepeda’s statue outside AT&T Park with the words, “Day off in #SanFrancisco! Hard work, dedication, and perseverance will get you one of these #THIS #HOFamer #Respect.”
Luhnow, who joined the Astros in December 2011 after eight years in St. Louis, draws a parallel to another former Cardinals MVP when talking about the potential he sees in Correa,.
“Having been with the Cardinals for most of Albert Pujols’ first 10 years, I saw there are these players who come by once in a generation who truly live up to all the expectations,” Luhnow said. “Albert is one of those, and I truly believe Carlos has an opportunity to be one of those as well.”