Super Prospect Carlos Correa Is Set to Give Face to Astros' Rebirth

Just when you thought the Houston Astros' bright present looked good enough, now it's about to look a bit more like their even brighter future.

Carlos Correa, who is arguably baseball's best prospect, has so far not had a hand in Houston's American League West-leading 34-24 record. But as Jorge de Jesus Ortiz of the Houston Chronicle reported Sunday evening, the Astros are ready to change that. The 20-year-old shortstop has gotten the call to The Show.

The timing is certainly right for Correa's arrival. As Evan Drellich of the Chronicle noted, Correa's recent promotion to Triple-A resulted in about a month's worth of playing time, and just as important, the Astros likely aren't risking him becoming a Super Two player. 

Oh, and there's also the reality that the Astros could use a boost. They've lost four in a row, a trend that general manager Jeff Luhnow thinks Correa can help reverse.

“We really feel like he can help our club right now win ballgames,” Luhnow said, per Ortiz. “We scuffled a little bit in these last few days, and we feel like Carlos gives us the best chance to win.”

As Ortiz noted on Twitter, Luhnow also referred to Correa as being "extremely special" with the "whole package" and who "could be a great major league player for a long time."

Clearly, he's excited. And he should be. 

Year	Baseball America	MLB.com	Baseball Prospectus
2013	13	30	26
2014	7	8	5
2015	4	3	3

Correa was Houston's No. 1 overall pick in 2012, and he's been climbing the prospect ranks ever since. Baseball-Reference.com can vouch that he entered 2015 as a top-five prospect according to MLB.com, Baseball America and Baseball Prospectus. And when ESPN.com's Keith Law unveiled his updated top 50 at the end of May, Correa was first on the list.

Sounds like a future face of the franchise. And if Correa lives up to his billing, that future could come very, very soon.

Correa didn't get off to the best start upon turning pro, as he hit just .258 with a .705 OPS in 50 games of rookie ball competition in 2012. Ever since then, however, he's played like a man with eyes on being baseball's next great shortstop.

Here's what Correa has done at four minor league levels in the last two-plus seasons:

Year	Age	Lev	G	PA	HR	SB	AVG	OBP	SLUG	OPS
2013	18	A	117	519	9	10	.320	.405	.467	.872
2014	19	A+	62	293	6	20	.325	.416	.510	.926
2015	20	AA-AAA	52	240	10	18	.332	.404	.602	1.006

There's not a number here that doesn't jump out at you, but it's what Correa has done more recently that takes the cake.

Playing against tougher competition hasn't stopped him from hitting for average, and he's ramped up both his power and his speed. He always had the ability to get there, but this is really the first time in his pro career that Correa has been, as Luhnow said, the "whole package."

That Correa is bringing a power/speed combination to the Astros should allow him to fit right in. Power and speed are the club's two main calling cards, as they lead the majors in home runs (78) and the American League in stolen bases (48).

But the fact that Correa is also bringing an advanced bat to the table is important, as it's something that could set him apart.

Aside from reigning batting champion Jose Altuve, the Astros don't have any pure average hitters in their lineup. Altuve is also the only primary hitter they have with a strikeout rate below the league average of 20.2 percent, and only Chris Carter and George Springer draw walks in more than 10 percent of their plate appearances. 

Fortunately for them, Correa is as advanced a hitter as his averages and on-base percentages would suggest. Law credited him with having "one of the best pure hit tools in the minors," and that shows up in how he struck out only 39 times while walking 26 times in 52 games this year. 

To boot, MLB Farm can vouch that Correa has an all-fields approach that will make him tough to defend:

Credit: MLBFarm.com

But while it may be that Correa's bat is his most attractive asset these days, the defense he can play at shortstop is not to be overlooked.

At 6'4" and 210 pounds and growing, it could be that Correa is one day too big to continue playing shortstop effectively. But for now, Baseball America's scouting report sees mostly good things.

"He's average when it comes to turning double plays, but he has excellent instincts, a quick first step, good hands and a double-plus arm, which helps him make the play in the hole and should allow him to thrive at shortstop in the near term."

As it happens, good defense at shortstop is something the Astros appear to need.

According to FanGraphs, the advanced metrics are split on the play the Astros have gotten out of their shortstops, making it one of the only question marks in a defense that Baseball Prospectus puts in the top 10 in efficiency.

So that part about Correa helping the Astros win some ballgames? If his talent translates to the big leagues as well as it could, that will be no problem. Between shoring up their defense at shortstop, giving them even more power and speed and breaking up their string of whiff-happy hitters, Correa figures to help the Astros win games in many different ways.

That alone is reason enough for Astros fans to be going head over heels in anticipation of Correa's arrival. But he has another quality worth mentioning, one that will help make him a fan favorite even more quickly.

Here's J.J. Cooper of Baseball America:

This is indeed the book on Correa's personality, and not just from an outsider perspective. Astros manager A.J. Hinch had an up-close look at Correa during spring training and noticed the same thing.

“His maturity stands out as a young player in camp with a lot of notoriety and a bull’s-eye on his chest where everyone knows who he is when he walks into the camp,” said the Astros skipper, via Drellich. “There’s a humility that I appreciate and I think his teammates appreciate.” 

Correa's maturity is indeed set to be appreciated by some pretty good teammates.

Beyond the aforementioned Altuve, Springer and Carter, the Astros also have guys like Evan Gattis, Colby Rasmus, Luis Valbuena, Jason Castro, Dallas Keuchel, Collin McHugh and fellow newcomers Lance McCullers Jr. and Preston Tucker. Though their sudden rise to the top of the American League may feel like a novelty, make no mistake that this Astros team is littered with talented players.

Correa, however, has the goods to be the best of them all. That's certainly true of the not-too-distant future, and it could prove to be true of the immediate future as well. The Astros may only be hoping Correa can help, but nobody should be surprised if he cements himself as the face of the franchise right away.

If he can manage that, he'll be the face of a franchise that's going places. The Astros are already good, and Correa's a guy who can make sure things stay that way.

Stats courtesy of Baseball-Reference.com and FanGraphs unless otherwise noted/linked.

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