Carlos Correa's return to Houston could spell trouble for his former team

The Houston Astros are back once again in the American League Division Series and this year they are facing the Minnesota Twins. Houston will see a familiar face in the opposing dugout as former Houston Astros shortstop Carlos Correa will also return to Houston, but this time as a member of the Twins which could spell trouble for the Houston Astros in this first playoff series. The Astros and Twins will square off Saturday at 4:45 pm Eastern/ 3:45 Central.

The former Astros star has a knack for coming up big in the playoffs and he has already starting making a big impact in their first two game series. Correa went 3-for-7 in the Wild Card games with a RBI, but he also made an amazing play with his arm as Correa somehow managed to throw out a runner at home on a ball in the hole.

Houston Astros fans will be glad to see their former All-Star shortstop who started his career by being drafted first overall by the Astros. The Astros will have to be careful to welcome him too much however, as he has a career .276 postseason average along with 18 career postseason home runs.

Correa is having a down year this year offensively as he only hit 18 home runs and drove in 65 runs while batting .230. Houston Astros fans were not entirely sad to see him depart two seasons ago as another young player named Jeremy Pena was emerging. Pena had a great first season hitting and had 22 home runs and driving in 63 while hitting .253 and even more significantly he hit .345 in the playoffs last season with 4 home runs and 8 RBI. Pena's most notable moment last postseason was his heroic solo home run that ended the 18 inning marathon against Seattle.

Jeremy Pena has had a sophomore slump this season and his stats are suffering a little bit. Pena hit .263 for the season but only had 10 home runs and drove in 52. Astros fans were indeed hoping for at least more of the same Pena from last season but he can redeem himself and save his season if he can have another big October like last year.

Could Correa's postseason return to Houston doom the Astros?

As for Correa, he is already on a roll this postseason and he could really be a thorn in the side of the Astros if he continues. Correa has had some monster postseasons in the past, like in 2020 when he hit six home runs, had 17 RBI, and hit .362 during that playoff run.

The Astros would really have trouble on their hands if he put on a show like that this upcoming series. It would be compounded if he put on that kind of a show and if Pena continued his sophomore slump into the postseason. Then you could have fans calling for the return of Correa, which would put extra pressure on the Astros' young shortstop. Either way, fans will be glad to see Correa initially, but they might not be glad to see him once he gets going and starts to show of his gold glove and arm on the field and hit bat at the dish.

More Astros News from Climbing Tal's Hill