Youth movement: Astros' Correa, Springer join all-time franchise list
A booming home run off the bat of Carlos Correa on Monday afternoon pushed the Houston Astros' 20-year-old shortstop onto a rather elite list alongside outfielder George Springer.
With that blast, the 17th of his young career, Correa picked up his 50th RBI of the season in just his 75th game since being promoted. He and Springer are now the only two players in Astros franchise history to hit that many round-trippers and drive in that many runs in their first 75 games.
Springer contextualized the record when speaking with Jose de Jesus Ortiz of the Houston Chronicle, saying, "Obviously for (Correa) he’s a different breed. He’s obviously shown a lot in his 80 games that he’s been here. He’s going to continue to grow and he’s going to be special.”
Correa, while young, already has the proper focus of a big-league ballplayer. He's focused on winning, rather than racking up personal accolades: “You weigh the numbers at the end of the season, and I’ll try to improve each year,” Correa told Ortiz. “But my goal and the reason they brought me up is to help try to find a way to help my team win."
He did commend Springer, who recently returned from a lengthy DL stint, as being 'an impact player that we need in the lineup'.
Now that they're both contributing, the Astros will rely on these two impact players to help maintain their shrinking lead in the AL West. They are now just one game ahead of the Texas Rangers, entering play Wednesday.