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Houston Let’s Celebrate Carlos Correa is Joining Astros

By Eric Huysman

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The moment that Houston fans have waited for, Carlos Correa is going to make his debut with the Houston Astros tomorrow night versus the Chicago White Sox. Before you start looking into plane tickets that will cost you $200 plus and a hotel that could run you $90 a night to attend tomorrow’s game. It might be better to go to Astros.com to buy tickets for Friday game. As soon as I heard the news, I immediately went I bought seats in section 419. Don’t lie, some of you reading this did too.

The news broke at 7:33 pm (CST) by Jose de Jesus Ortiz, at least he was the first one I saw Tweet it out.

One of CTH’s writers, Brandon de Castillo posted his post that Carlos Correa would be up on Friday, and his arguments made sense. I just think that the Astros have lost four games in a row with their AL West shrinking made the Astros finally decide to make the move. Here are Jeff Luhnow’s comments about why make the move now.

What is the Astros expecting of their young star? They think the world of him, this is why they have waited so long so they can have longer into his career. What is Luhnow expecting of Correa?

Well, I could keep going and give you all of Jose de Jesus Ortiz’s Tweets, but you are not here to read what he has to say. What does this mean for the 2015 Astros?

Why Now?

At first the Astros were riding so high in the standings, that they didn’t want to fix what was not broken, like several of the Astros fans expressed while Tweeting. The time was now with the Astros creeping back to reality, back to .500, and back to the pack with the last four losses. They were going with an error prone Jonathan Villar and backup player in Marwin Gonzalez at shortstop. It worked for a while, but even a good patch will start to leak eventually.

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In today’s game, Villar had that inexcusable play where he called off

Jose Altuve

and then ran into the runner

Jose Reyes

at second base and missed the ball. The Astros ended up losing that game, with the Blue Jays striving off the extra chance the Astros gave them. You can read the recap of that game

here

.

From Ortiz’s article that you can find here, the decision to promote Correa was not made because of Villar’s error that cost the Astros the game today. Ortiz wrote that Luhnow even told Villar that he would stay with the team for now as a utility player who can play in the outfield and infield. The team has carried thirteen pitchers for the past month plus, so it’s a drastic move to send Jake Buchanan down to Triple-A to promote Correa, which makes me think that there is another move on the horizon.

Maybe Vincent Velasquez, who was supposed to start tonight for the Hooks, will be called up to start Wednesday in the place of Roberto Hernandez. In that case, Villar will be off the team, and Hernandez could fall into the long relief role, that is a scary thought.

Another reason for the move is the kickstart Rangers have relied on youth in Joey Gallo, Chi Chi Gonzalez, and Delino DeSheilds Jr to put pressure on the Astros. The Astros decided to fight fire with fire, so look for Velasquez soon as well.

Where will Correa Hit?

If recent history tells you where Carlos Correa might hit, it will be at the bottom of the order like they did when OF Preston Tucker made his debut with the Astros. Tucker has since moved to the number three hole. What will they do with the player they labeled a once in a lifetime player? I think they throw him into the Briar Patch, after a few games hitting in the bottom of the order. He probably ends up being the Astros second or third hitter.

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Here is what I think the lineup could look like after Correa plays ten games with the Astros to get his feet wet.

George Springer (I’d rather Altuve leadoff)

Jose Altuve

Carlos Correa

Evan Gattis

Preston Tucker or Colby Rasmus

Chris Carter or Jon Singleton

Luis Valbuena

Jason Castro

Jake Marisnick

But then again, when has A.J. Hinch deployed a consistent lineup this year? As CTH’s writer Larry Manch is writing about for a post on Tuesday, the Astros have too many good players, which is a good thing to have.

What stats should we expect?

If his promotion to AAA gives us an idea of what to expect, he comes up to Houston guns a blazing, hitting for power and stealing bases. But then, the league will adjust to him and learn how to pitch to him. He might struggle like he did for a week in Triple-A, but Correa is smart enough to know if something is not working; he needs to make it work. The one thing I know is that he probably won’t see the minor leagues again for a while.

I can see him hitting .260 with 12-15 homers and 10-13 stolen bases realistically this season, but he is capable of much more than that. I know fantasy baseball owners are all rushing to pick up Correa, especially in keeper leagues.

I’m excited about the draft tomorrow, but I will be keeping my eyes on the tube for Carlos Correa’s debut. Go Astros, and thanks to Jeff Luhnow for your awesome 2012 draft class that includes Lance McCullers Jr, Preston Tucker, and now Carlos Correa. However, one of the best from the 2012 draft class is still at Lancaster in Brett Phillips.

Next: CTH's Mock Draft of First Five Picks

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