I do think he is overrated. He is already very good, but he hasn't been as good as some believe and he isn't even the best young shortstop in the AL right now. There is a difference between performance and expectations. To your point about people being disappointed... that is my point. He hasn't been some sort of iconic or generational talent like some think. Once he has actually done something like that, we can treat him like he is one. He is very good right now, but that is it.
But who is doing the overrating? I see plenty of complaints about hia performance, and how he isn't yet an MVP candidate... and those people speak with disappointment. You said he's the most overrated player in baseball... an egregious statement made with a sense of dissapointment. My question is... why are your standards so lofty for a just turned 22 year old who IS putting up tremendous numbers both for his age, and in general.
It's pretty obvious watching Correa right now that he's definitely heating up. I think we all saw this coming as it seemed that early on he was often hitting into unlucky outs even when he made hard contact and was a little more undisciplined at the plate than he usually is. The numbers seem to back up that his power totals don't match up with his peripherals so far. So far this season he has the highest hard contact percentage of his career at 42%, the lowest ground ball percentage of his career at 41%, the highest fly ball percentage of his career at 38% but the lowest HR/FB ratio of his career at just 10.8%. If he maintains his high percentage of hard contact, his low percentage of ground balls and his high percentage of fly balls, then the HR/FB ratio should even out to somewhere between his 2016 HR/FB ratio of 16% and his 2015 rookie season HR/FB ratio of 24%. His swinging strike percentage is also down from last season. I think that when you look at the numbers, it wouldn't be too surprising to see him end up hitting right around .275-.280 with 25-ish HR's and 100 runs batted in. Those kind of numbers would undoubtedly put him up there (where he already is) with the elite (top 3-4) SS's in the game.
Because there are people in the media that expect him to already be competing for MVPs. He is a guy that has been compared to ARod. Expectations have just been to high. Ultimately as good as he is (Given his age, he's on an early HOF path), he hasn't taken a jump that next jump people expected after a stellar debut season. I can't say I haven't been disappointed that he hasn't been better. It is sort of like Bryce Haper after his first couple years. Yeah he is a very good player, especially given the age, but we thought he was going to be what Mike Trout is. Of course Harper went onto have a year on par with a roided up Barry Bonds and this year is doing it again. And of course Mike Trout is on his way to being the greatest player since Willie Mays (discounting Bonds/ARod for their PED use). Who knows, maybe his May is the start of that jump.
Correa's batted ball profile is elite. It was only a matter of time before the numbers turned around and the extra base hits started to come. The kid is 22 years old. Expectations need to be kept in check.
But the mistake being made is that people confuse future expectations with current expectations. It can be hard to separate the two... and there's certainly valid reasons to have the high future expectations with comparison to A-rod... but it's pretty unfair to him to be both disappointed now and claim him to be overrated now when he's barely scratching the surface of his career. I'd be thrilled if he was only the third best player of this era (behind Trout and Harper)... hell, he may end up behind Stanton and machado. Still very very good... and has a prime that's going to be for another decade or so.
But those weren't really future expectations. http://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/pag...predictions/mlb-award-predictions-2016-season 14 out of 31 picked Correa (same as Trout) to be AL MVP last year. http://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/page/SeasonpreviewMLB_2017awards/2017-mlb-experts-awards-predictions Even this year he managed to finish 2nd behind Trout. ARod posted MVP numbers his first full season at age 20. Those expectations aren't fair, and they may not have been reasonable, but that has been the hype.
So, those dissapointed in him should blame themselves being influenced by media hype... even though that's exactly what the media always does, right or wrong. There's plenty of indications to remain optimistic. Sky is still the limit for him.
In 10 games so far in May, Correa has had an extra base hit in seven of them and reached base in nine of them. He's hitting .395 with an insane 1.255 OPS, 3 homers, 6 doubles and 11 RBIs. And his season numbers have finally become respectable. Obviously he's going to come back down to earth at some point, but here's hoping this upward trend continues. I'd love to see him flirt with a .300 average, a .900 OPS and 100 RBIs. That would be a fantastic step in the right direction for him.
Correa has been to the plate 43 times in May, and he has 3 K's. A few more good games and his numbers will look like the massive breakout season we were hoping he had. When some of us go on about how "it's early", this is what we mean. In 2 weeks he could go from massively over hyped to an MVP level slash line. That's not to say that he will do that, but it just reiterates how overly magnified early year results can be.
Not even looking at the results, the quality of his ABs has done a complete 180. Incredibly fun to watch him hit when he's locked in like this.
http://www.espn.com/blog/sweetspot/...-play-combo-has-chance-to-be-one-of-best-ever Basically, if Correa/Altuve have good seasons this year and next, they will easily be in the top 4 SS/2B combos of all time, along with Rollins/Utley, Trammell/Whitaker, and Reese/Robinson. Assuming they both stay healthy and maintain their current production, if Altuve is extended through 2021 (when Correa reaches free agency), they will likely be the best double play combination in baseball history.
