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Comparing Carlos Correa and Corey Seager

By Jonas Thoms

ARLINGTON, TEXAS - OCTOBER 25: Corey Seager #5 of the Los Angeles Dodgers hits an RBI single against the Tampa Bay Rays during the first inning in Game Five of the 2020 MLB World Series at Globe Life Field on October 25, 2020 in Arlington, Texas. (Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images)
ARLINGTON, TEXAS - OCTOBER 25: Corey Seager #5 of the Los Angeles Dodgers hits an RBI single against the Tampa Bay Rays during the first inning in Game Five of the 2020 MLB World Series at Globe Life Field on October 25, 2020 in Arlington, Texas. (Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images) /
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Carlos Correa

(Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)
(Photo by Elsa/Getty Images) /

Over the past seven seasons, Correa has been one of the most productive players in baseball. Since 2015, his 34.1 bWAR ranks sixth for position players. This despite playing in only 77% of the Astros games since he made his debut. Of the players ahead of him on that list, only Mike Trout and Mookie Betts have produced more bWAR per 162 games than Correa. While that is certainly impressive, missing an average of a quarter of each season is a concern.

At the major league level, Correa has missed 50+ games in three seasons. Persistent back issues, a fractured rib, and a torn thumb ligament are just some of the issues that have sidelined him over the years. The last two seasons, however, he has been healthy and available nearly every day.

As a hitter, Correa has produced a solid .277/.356/.481/.837 line over his career, good for a 127 OPS+, or 27 percent above league average. In five of his seven seasons, he’s produced an OPS over .800 and an OPS+ over 120 and in the other two, he’s produced slightly below average seasons. Injuries in 2018 and the difficulties of playing through the many restrictions in 2020 may have played a factor in his subpar batting seasons.

As a fielder, Correa has been consistently excellent and has steadily improved. In 2021, he won both a Gold Glove and the Platinum Glove and pretty much all defensive metrics back up those selections. He rated first in all of MLB in Baseball Reference’s defensive WAR, with 2.9, and Defensive Runs Saved with 20. Outs Above Average had him a little lower but still in the top-10. While 2021 was his best defensive season, his career numbers are all significantly above average and he is clearly one of the best defensive players in the game.

The great news for Correa is that his best season as a big leaguer was his most recent season. In 2021 at age-26, he set career bests in runs scored (104), home runs (26), walk rate (11.7%), strikeout rate (18.1%), and both bWAR (7.2) and fWAR (5.8) and he was healthy enough to play 148 games. If Correa’s career follows the typical path of MLB players, anyone signing Correa is likely getting his five most productive seasons (ages 27-31) and then a number of excellent seasons after that even as he begins to decline.

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