Carlos Correa

On May 22, Correa was slashing .295/.360/.547, well on the way to showing the previous season's performance and injury struggles were behind him. Then, he reported feeling soreness in his ribs, supposedly from an in-home massage gone wrong. Correa was diagnosed with a cracked rib and spent just over eight weeks on the IL. Over the next month or so, Correa posted a .237/.354/.575 line before succumbing to back soreness. He played three games in September before being shut down until the playoffs. While his early-season performance was encouraging and his rib injury was a fluke, the recurrence of back woes is a huge buzzkill. Under the hood, Correa's indicators resembled those from before 2018. He didn't miss a playoff game, though he batted a disappointing .191/.257/.382 in the postseason. Correa remains an impact fantasy player when healthy, but until he shows he's devoid of back issues, he's a health risk.

For the second consecutive year, Correa's season was abbreviated due to injury. Unlike in 2017, his offensive numbers were not good as the problems with his back and oblique area lingered and affected his performance. A hitter is nothing without a healthy core, and Correa proved that in spades last year as he looked like a shadow of the guy we saw at the plate from 2015-17. The injury issue is present now, and tough to overlook given it has happened in back-to-back seasons, but what should be overlooked is last year’s struggles. Asking a hitter to perform at a high level without his core is like asking a sprinter to excel while running with plantar fasciitis. The down year presents a buying opportunity we have not yet had for Correa as expectations have been high since he came on the scene. Jump back in with both feet and hope he gets back over 600 plate appearances to maximize his earning potential.

Correa took another big step forward in his age-22 season, setting new career-highs in homers (24), batting average (.315), on-base percentage (.391) and slugging percentage (.550) while cutting his strikeout rate down to 19.1 percent. The counting stats could have been even better if he hadn't lost two months to a thumb injury suffered while he was sliding into home plate in early July. After returning in September, Correa hit just four homers in the final month of the season, but he swatted five in 18 postseason games while doing his part to help the Astros bring home a World Series title. After reaching double-digit stolen bases in each of his first two seasons with Houston, Correa had just two steals in 2017, which is a particularly surprising shift when you consider that he was 27-for-34 (79.4 percent) in his career prior to last season. With an excellent supporting cast returning around him in Houston, Correa could emerge as an MVP candidate with a completely healthy season in 2018.

Correa had a solid 2016 season that may get lost amid his heightened expectations and with so many other shortstops producing at the plate. Correa drew more walks last season, but also struck out a bit more and also did not get as much loft on his batted balls as he did in his rookie season. He also didn't run as frequently as expected, as he attempted just 17 steals. Correa needs to close the gaps in his splits to improve as he has hit for a better average and more power against righties than he has lefties. He could hit anywhere in the top four spots of the lineup in 2017, but hitting between Alex Bregman and Jose Altuve could be huge for his runs and RBI. At just 23, Correa still has time to become the top player at his position and fantasy superstar many envisioned when drafting him in the first round last year.

Correa, who entered 2015 fully healthy after suffering a fractured fibula the year prior, showed he had nothing left to prove in the minors, hitting .335/.407/.600 with 10 home runs, 44 RBI, and 18 stolen bases in 53 games between Double-A Corpus Christi and Triple-A Fresno. He made his big league debut in June as a 20-year-old and never looked back, replacing the injured Jed Lowrie as the Astros' starting shortstop. Correa surpassed his already lofty expectations by hitting .279/.345/.512 with 22 home runs, 68 RBI, and 14 steals in 99 games for Houston. The former No. 1 pick also broke several playoff records for his historic performance (4-for-4, two home runs, 11 total bases) in Game 4 of the ALDS. Fresh off a tremendous debut season, Correa is likely to be the first shortstop taken off the board in 2016 drafts and is justifiable as a first-round pick.

Correa was tremendous for High-A Lancaster, hitting .325/.416/.510 with six home runs, 57 RBI and 20 steals in just 62 games, before he fractured his fibula in late June, ending his season. Now several months removed from the injury, the 20-year-old shortstop is running, fielding grounders and taking part in other baseball-related activities, and should be fully recovered for the start of spring training. Despite the lost development time, Correa is still widely considered one of the top prospects in baseball. He's likely to spend most of the season, if not all of it, with Double-A Corpus Christi.

Correa, the No. 1 overall pick of the 2012 MLB draft, got off to a slow start in April (.221 batting average), but really turned up the heat after that to finish his first full season with an impressive .320/.405/.467 line despite missing time with a pair of hand injuries. He didn't hit for much power (nine home runs), but he tied for sixth in the Midwest League with 33 doubles and ranked fourth with 86 RBI. Those numbers, combined with uncertainty surrounding Correa's long-term defensive position between shortstop and third base, drew comparisons to the Orioles' Manny Machado. Regardless of what position he plays, the 19-year-old Correa has immense upside. For now, he will reside near the top, if not at the very top, of shortstop prospect rankings.

The surprise first overall pick of the 2012 draft struggled a bit in his first Gulf Coast League action, but turned it on when he was promoted to the Appalachian League in early August -- hitting .371/.450/.600 in limited at-bats. Correa looks like he will stick at shortstop, but at just 18, a lot will depend on how his body matures over the next three-to-four years. He will need to work on his endurance as he did not play every day in Puerto Rico. Correa will likely start the year on one of the Astros' short-season teams, but if things go well he should find his way to one of the team's full-season clubs when all is said and done.