Saturday, December 06

BOSTON -- The third and fourth hitters in the Astros’ first lineup post-Trade Deadline were Jesús Sánchez, who started in left field and hit third, and Carlos Correa, who started at third base and hit cleanup against the Red Sox, and both had been acquired in trades a day earlier.

Talk about your major Trade Deadline acquisitions.

If that wasn’t enough to give the Astros’ lineup a jolt, Correa’s unexpected return to Houston was already providing some energy and renewed belief in the team’s championship chances before he even played in a game. The energy inside the visitors’ clubhouse Friday at Fenway Park was palpable, with Correa slipping on his familiar No. 1 jersey while chatting with both old teammates like Jose Altuve and new ones like Mauricio Dubón.

• Correa is back! Come see him in action with the Astros

While Correa went 0-for-4 in Houston's 2-1 loss in 10 innings to the Red Sox on Friday night, he said it was like he never left.

“Feels great,” he said. “Brings back great memories at the beginning of my career. Looking forward to making a lot more.”

So are the Astros, who saw their lineup get a huge upgrade at the Deadline with the additions of Correa from the Twins, Sánchez from the Marlins and Ramón Urías from the Orioles. The Astros are counting on Correa and Sánchez to be impact bats, while Urías will provide some much-needed depth.

“They gave us good pieces to go out there and keep winning,” Altuve said. “And I love it.”

Correa, drafted as a shortstop by the Astros with the No. 1 pick in 2012, kept a home in Houston, a place he’s lived for more than a decade, even after signing with the Twins before the 2022 season. He’s nothing short of a legend in the city, and his return has prompted fans to dust off their No. 1 Correa jerseys that were hanging in the back of their closets.

“I never thought this would happen or there was a chance for this to happen,” said Correa, who won a World Series with Houston in 2017. “And when it started developing, we were in constant conversations with the front office over in Minnesota. And then when it finally happened, I called my wife, that’s when it started kicking in. And it was surreal.”

Altuve, who took Correa under his wing in Houston, said he texted Correa immediately when he saw a post on social media that he was coming back to the Astros.

“He’s a great leader, man,” Altuve said. “He’s a guy that definitely makes your clubhouse better. We all know how passionate he is about baseball, how smart he is, and how he can affect other players and make them better.”

Going from the Twins to the Astros vaulted Correa onto a first-place team. Houston (62-48) entered Friday holding a 4 1/2-game lead over the second-place Mariners in the AL West with two months remaining in the regular season. The Astros have continued to find success post-Correa but believe having him back will keep them among the AL’s heavyweights.

“He was so fired up [and] happy to come home,” Astros manager Joe Espada said. “He immediately started talking about winning. He immediately started talking about working at third base. He wants to know about some of the players, what they’re like. He has all kinds of questions. He doesn’t want to talk about himself. He wants to know who we have in our clubhouse [and] how he can help win games. That’s just who he is.”

Espada spent Thursday in Boston and was at the movies with his family (watching the animated "Bad Guys 2," if you must know) but had to leave the theater when trade rumors started to heat up. This ending was better than anything Hollywood could offer.

“Very significant improvements,” Espada said of the new additions. “We added a lefty bat [in Sánchez] that can play both corners [of] the outfield, power, can run. Urías is a guy that provides some versatility in the infield. And, of course, Carlos Correa and his leadership. A bat that can hit right there in the middle of our lineup. It brings excitement to our clubhouse. He’s already in conversation with our hitters. The dynamic is completely different right now.”

When Correa left the Astros at the end of the 2021 season, much was made about how Houston would struggle to replace his leadership. The Astros won a World Series without Correa the following season, but they haven’t reached the World Series since ’22 and believe the return of Correa to Houston will help get them back to the Fall Classic.

“His presence is pretty uplifting,” Dubón said. “Just having him here is fun. We have a bunch of bad-asses that are here.”

Aug. 3, 2019: Aaron Sanchez, making his first start for the Astros since being acquired in a trade with the Blue Jays days earlier, combined with relievers Will Harris, Joe Biagini and Chris Devenski to throw the second combined no-hitter in franchise history. Sanchez threw six innings, and Harris, Biagini and Devenski each threw one in Houston’s 9-0 win over Seattle.

The return of Correa overshadowed another reunion in Boston this weekend. Former Astros third baseman Alex Bregman faced off against his former teammates on Friday for the first time since he signed with Boston in the offseason.

A former No. 2 overall pick in the 2015 MLB Draft by the Astros, Bregman quickly became a star and was a cornerstone player on Houston teams that advanced to seven consecutive American League Championship Series, culminating with World Series titles in 2017 and ’22.

“Obviously had a great time in Houston,” Bregman said before Friday’s game at Fenway. “I have friends for life over there. And it’s going to be fun to go see all those guys here before the game, after the game, and get to talk to them and compete against them.”

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