Houston Astros prospect Correa could help balance lineup

It’s been an exciting start to the season for baseball’s best prospects. The season isn’t a month old and already several of the game’s brightest are in the majors; from catchers such as the Marlins’ J.T. Realmuto and the Mets’ Kevin Plawecki; to pitchers such as the White Sox’s Carlos Rodon and the Diamondbacks’ Archie Bradley; to future All-Stars in the Cubs’ Kris Bryant and Addison Russell. Most recently, the Reds called up pitcher Michael Lorenzen.

Such a rapid influx makes it harder to wait for the next prospect to arrive. The early success of Bryant and Bradley and the Dodgers’ Joc Pederson makes one optimistic about the future of other top minor leaguers.

This is why baseball fans should hope the Houston Astros are considering calling up GotC’s No. 2 prospect Carlos Correa. Astros shortstop Jed Lowrie is having surgery on a torn ligament in his right thumb and will likely be out until around the All-Star Break.

It’s very wishful thinking at this point, but the idea of Correa, 20, playing shortstop in Houston this season is tantalizing. It’s unlikely to happen, but calling up Correa makes sense for myriad reasons.

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The most obvious is that the team needs a shortstop. Lowrie is somewhere between average and good defensively, depending on how much credence you give to defensive metrics. It’s almost universally believed that Correa has the athleticism to play a quality shortstop, so there are few concerns there. The Astros called up Jonathan Villar to platoon with incumbent backup Marwin Gonzalez, but Correa playing every day would give fans even more reason to follow the Astros.

Correa’s stellar offensive profile is why calling him up really make senses. Correa has been blistering minor league pitching ever since he was drafted No. 1 overall in 2012. In 2013, he slashed .320/.405/.467 in Single-A and followed that up with an even more impressive .325/.416/.510 in an injury-shortened 2014. He’s off to an even more ridiculous start this season: entering play Wednesday, he leads Double-A in hitting (.400), RBIs (22), slugging (.800) and is tied for second in home runs with five.

That steady offensive production would fit in well in Houston’s lineup. It’s a small sample size, but Houston’s stellar pitching is why the team is leading the American League West—the staff is fifth in the majors in team ERA (3.21), third in BABIP (.258) and first in ground ball percentage (52.0%, another reason to have a good shortstop). The offense is in the middle-of-the-pack in most offensive categories, mostly because of its propensity to strike out. The Astros, as was expected, lead the majors in strikeout rate (24.4%), so having a player like Correa who gets on base regularly to balance out the Chris Carter/George Springer/Evan Gattis type hitters would be a boon for the offense. Correa, along with second baseman Jose Altuve, could form the most potent and consistent top of the order in baseball.

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Of course, having Correa in the majors would cause a logjam in the infield once Lowrie returns. Altuve isn’t moving anywhere, and Luis Valbuena, who leads the team in home runs, is playing third base. Carter plays first base, and moving him to DH so Correa can play first would be a waste of Correa’s athleticism. Correa is also extremely young, so more at bats in the minors can only help him.

Sadly, Correa will likely stay in the minors for the time being. But no matter what the Astros decide to do with Correa this season, they’ll need to make room for him in their 2016 lineup if he keeps hitting the way he has.

All stats from Baseball-Reference, MiLB.com and FanGraphs.com

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