So if you are forming a baseball team and the idea is to start winning today and keep winning as long as you can, who is your first pick?
You probably want a younger player, but on already an established star. Mike Trout? Bryce Harper? Jose Fernandez?
How about Carlos Correa?
The Houston Astros rookie shortstop has played all of 56 games in the big leagues but already has played his way into the discussion.
At 20, and playing, perhaps, the most important fielding position on the diamond, Correa looks the part of a franchise player, maybe for the next decade and a half.
The 1.95-metre, 95-kilogramme Puerto Rican has been an offensive force since he arrived while providing a steady flow of jaw-dropping defensive plays.
In just over a third of a season he is the runaway favourite to win the American League Rookie of the Year Award, relegating solid candidates such as teammate Lance McCullers (3.17 earned-run average) and Oakland outfielder Billy Burns (. 296 batting average, 23 stolen bases) to the sidelines.
Correa’s 14 home runs, 37 RBI and nine steals are only part of the statistical story.
His .882 OPS (on-base percentage-plus-slugging average) is the best among all shortstops, better than the consensus superstar at the position, Troy Tulowitzki (15 home runs, 59 RBI, .815 OPS) who has played almost twice as many games.
“It’s not a secret that he’s going to be one of the best,” teammate Jose Altuve told the New York Times. If he is not already.
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