I think this is a pessimistic take. He led the league in WAR in 2021 and, as others have noted, has amassed 45 WAR by age 30. He should be compared to great-fielding middle infielders in assessing his batting credentials. Also consider that he's got an incredible postseason record - 3rd all time in RBI, 10th in hits, 10th all time in home runs, all despite barely setting foot in the playoffs the past three seasons. His slash line in the playoffs is .282/.352/.508 in a substantial number of ABs. I think his ability to shine in the playoffs consistently more than offsets his lack of arbitrary regular season markers. Especially when added to the defense and the WAR he's amassed. The "constantly hurt" tag isn't really fair, either. He's only missed significant time in 1 of the last 6 seasons, including this year.
Good points. Especially the point about playoff stats. If the Astros and Correa both stay good he should end up as one of the five best playoff producers of all time in terms of counting stats (hits, HR, RBI).
It's crazy to think that there is a legitimate world where 5 years from now, Carlos is the only player left from the golden era. A nightmare !!! They need to just win another ring and extend the golden era to avoid that.
Ozzie Smith didn't hit 30 home runs in his career... Correa is obviously not Ozzie Smith - but I don't think he needs power numbers to augment his candidacy - if the overall numbers are great + he has two rings and those stellar postseason numbers, he's going to have a very vital case.
Hasn't hit 30 HR yet. I still believe there is a world where as he gets older he cheats some on the ball to hit pull side fly balls and if he ever does that (while staying healthy) he has plenty enough power to hit 35 or 40 HR's. Basically I'm saying age might make him a shittier hitter but end up being more effective with more HR's as he tries to yank balls into the Crawford boxes. It happened with Biggio.
What are you talking about? Jose Altuve is going to play effectively until he's at least 50, maybe older. I know this to be true.
I actually see him being more focused on bat-to-ball skills, going the opposite way, getting on base, laying off some low breaking stuff. He's dissecting a lot of these AB's with a renewed purpose/focus, which eventually will regress some, but compared to some of the free swinging bullshit this team has seen all season its been very refreshing. Some of that "increased focus" effect does get seen in the post-season (where he's been amazing, ever since his rookie year).
Oh, I'm not talking about the adjustment this year necessarily. I get what you are saying and that's true. To the extent he does that he will be a "better hitter" than what I'm talking about b/c if you can stay up the middle and hit the ball hard that's a more productive hitter that can hit better pitching than what what I'm talking about. He should do that as long as he can b/c it's the "right" way to do it. What I mean is 3 years from now when his batspeed slows a bit and he can't do that, and he has to become more of a mistake/ambush hitter that tries to pull the ball to maintain high level effectiveness. That approach will lead to more pronounced slumps, lower contact rate and less ability to hit good pitches and pitchers, but, when he gets mistakes and turns on it that should mean more HR. HR are really important. They can mask a lot of that other stuff and make a guy stay playable. What I'm talking about is the reason guys like Altuve and Parades can stay in the league with 10th precentile hard hit balls, and even thrive, because there's nothing more valuabe than that. This is what's meant when people talk about power (and BB) being an old man skill. Correa might be able to transittion into old time skill pretty well at the plate. Moving off of SS to 3B is already doing that in the field.
Genuine Carlos... not trying to be a media diva, not trying to entertain the press, not trying to sell his brand anymore... sometimes leaving and coming back does give that sort of perspective one needs to focus on what truly makes him great and drives him.
