The Astros know it: They - and Carlos Correa - are kind of a big deal
CHICAGO - The Houston Astros sat around the clubhouse Monday afternoon as it rained outside, watching college baseball on TV, trying to pretend this day was like any other.
They were fooling nobody, least of all themselves.
Entering the Astros' clubhouse for the first time this season was a kid who not only was younger than many college players selected in Monday night's baseball draft, but the youngest who has stepped onto any major league field this season.
It was the arrival of Carlos Correa, 20, who just three years ago was the No. 1 pick in the draft, and now is already being acclaimed as one of the most talented young shortstops the game has ever seen.
Correa, who broke down crying when he saw his parents and 16-year-old brother and 6-year-old sister standing in the U.S. Cellular Field tunnel before the game, showed just why he receives the accolades. He got one of the five hits off Chicago White Sox ace Chris Sale in the Astros’ 3-1 loss, drove in the first run off Sale in 22 2/3 innings, and made a great spin-and-throw move in the eighth inning, showing off his range.
“There’s nothing,’’ Astros manager A.J. Hinch said, “that he can’t do on a baseball field.’’
Let the comparisons to the young Alex Rodriguez begin.
"We're not rushing him; this isn't a response or a panic,'' Hinch told Paste BN Sports in between bites of his omelette during breakfast. "I think it's a luxury we're able to add him, breaking him in when he doesn't have to carry the team.
"Besides, he's one of the most talented players in our organization, and he's going to be one of the most polished 20-year-olds we'll ever be around.
"He deserves this. It's just ironic this is the first day of the draft.''
It's also quite appropriate that this is the day the Astros' organization may never be looked at the same again.
Those comical days of losing at least 106 games in three consecutive seasons are over.
The Astros, the biggest surprise in baseball with the second-best record in the American League, 34-24, can no longer be considered a fluke one month until the All-Star break, and on Monday became the first team with two top-five selections in the draft.
"It's nice to build that way,'' Hinch said, "but I guarantee you there's no one in that clubhouse who wants the Astros to pick in the top five ever again. The excitement level around here is pretty high. The funny thing is that you don't often see a team like this get younger.''
In the last three weeks, the Astros have called up Lance McCullers, 21, who started Monday against the White Sox, Vincent Velasquez, who's scheduled to make his debut Wednesday, and now Correa. Mark Appel, 23, their No. 1 pick in the 2013 draft, should be next sometime this summer.
And the team that wasn't supposed to contend until 2017 has been atop the AL West standings for the last seven weeks, the latest they've been in first place since 2003.
Go ahead, Hinch says, you try to figure this game out.
The Astros certainly planned to bring up Correa this year, but there was no urgency, and they were unsure of the timing. If they were struggling again, the Astros weren't sure they wanted to bring him into a losing environment.
It had to be the perfect storm.
The storm hit Chicago with full force Monday, with Correa finding himself surrounded by 16 reporters at his locker, while earlier being sandwiched between businessmen in first class on his flight to Chicago.
"It hit me when I was on the plane,'' said Correa, 6-foot-4. "Both the guys sitting next to me were reading the newspaper, and were reading my article. 'Are you this guy?'
"Then they started talking to me how glad they were to meet me. It was really a good time. But I just didn't get a chance to sleep on it because I was talking the whole time.
"That's when it really hit me that I was going to be in the big leagues with the Houston Astros.''
It didn't even matter that the man he'd be facing was no other than Sale, who just so happens to be one of the greatest pitchers in the game.
"That's OK,'' said All-Star second baseman Jose Altuve, who hugged Correa when he came into the clubhouse. "We all know Sale is one of the best pitchers in the game, but we think Carlos will be one of the best hitters in the big leagues.''
Correa certainly came as advertised, going 1-for-4, and it was his speed that provided his first major-league hit. He hit a chopper deep to shortstop Alexei Ramirez, and although he was originally called out by first-base umpire Larry Vanover, it was overturned by instant replay.
Just like that, there was his first hit, his first RBI and first replay.
“I don’t know if that was the first-ever bit league hit ever overturned,’’ Hinch said. “But if it was, it belonged to Carlos. …
“He’s a big leaguer on his first day, and he looked the part in every facet.’’
Correa, who got only two hours of sleep, and then sat through two rain delays, said he had the time of his life. Sure, he wished his debut came in a victory, but plenty of those will come. Why, he wasn’t even the least bit nervous.
The only time he got emotional, he said, was seeing his family for the first time since spring training.
“That got to me,’’ Correa told Paste BN Sports. “My family and I were close. Seeing them for the first time, that meant everything.’’
And seeing Correa for the first time in a Major League game, well, that means everything to the Astros.
“He’s really going to help us,’’ Hinch said. “We’re a better team with him.’’
These are your new and improved Astros, and even after their fifth consecutive loss, they showed no visible signs of frustration, and still appeared upbeat.
This is a team that strikes out more than any team in the AL, and hits more home runs than any team in baseball, but also steals more bases than anyone in the AL, so why should a little losing streak alter their morale?
"We're all over the map, aren't we?'' Hinch says. "We play with a loose spirit. That's our identity. That's something we embrace.
"We're not perfect, but we don't have to be perfect to be good. It's June 8, and we're still being talked about, so it can't be too bad''
Buoyed by Hinch's faith and confidence, the Astros may not be inviting their friends and family for postseason games yet, but they certainly believe they'll be in contention all season.
"A.J. has us all believing we can win, and compete with anybody,'' right fielder George Springer said. "We haven't had success in a while. Everybody expected us to get beat every night. The expectation now is to go out and beat you every night. There's no more accepting mediocrity. A.J. has changed all of that.''
The guy who was in the San Diego Padres' front office a year ago at this time, who was last in uniform in 2010 after begin fired as the Arizona Diamondbacks manager, now is leading baseball's greatest comeback story.
"I think it would be a mistake to consider ourselves having already arrived,'' Hinch, 40, said. "But the league is not going away from us, and we're not going away from the league.
"I don't know what will happen. We might succeed. We might fail. But we are going to compete.''
And, yes, they're not afraid to compete with some of the finest young talent in the game.
"You have to be careful,'' said Hinch, a former farm director. "The last bits and pieces of development are always going to happen in the big leagues, I don't care who you are.
"It's a lot easier for development if you're struggling as a team.
"We may not have the luxury of doing that now if we're going to be in the middle of this.''
Yet, the Astros are more worried about the mosquitoes in Houston than Correa's development. They're convinced, even after playing just 53 games above Class A, that he'll be just fine. Watching Correa hitting .335 with 21 doubles, 10 homers, 44 RBI and 18 steals in 19 attempts will do that.
"He's immensely talented,'' Hinch says, "but what I learned about him this spring is that he's very, very strong mentally. He doesn't take anything for granted. He doesn't just want to make it to the big leagues. He wants to be great, and he's earned a lot of respect from players and coaches at how hard he works. He won't be scared. He won't be timid. He'll compete.
"I can't wait to see what happens.''
Neither can the rest of us.
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