Correa clears air surrounding rib injury

HOUSTON -- On Sunday, a frustrated Carlos Correa walked reporters through how he suffered a cracked rib while getting a massage at his house May 28, an injury that was going to sideline him for four to six weeks. The injury occurred nearly two weeks ago, and Correa is still limited to light exercises and hasn’t began any baseball activities.

Sunday was the first time that Correa talked to reporters since the incident, and his account of how a masseuse broke his rib was consistent with the video he and his fiancée, Daniella Rodriguez, posted on her YouTube channel a couple of days following the injury.

“My rib was bothering me for quite a bit during the games, and I was getting a massage at home one day and [the masseuse] pressed on the area and there was a loud crack,” he said. “Right away I texted [Astros head trainer Jeremiah Randall] and I said, ‘I think my rib is cracked.’ He said, ‘What do you mean?’ I said, 'I was getting massage and my side hurts after I heard a loud crack.' I showed up early to the ballpark right after that happened and we set up the MRI, and the MRI revealed I had a cracked rib.”

The injury brought an abrupt halt to a terrific season for Correa, who was hitting .295 with 11 homers, 35 RBIs and a .907 OPS in 50 games following a subpar 2018 in which he battled a back problem for the second half of the year and the playoffs.

“I get a massage every single day at home,” Correa said. “Even last year, I had the back injury, and this year, I had been doing everything with yoga and massages in the offseason and regular season. Every day at 10 a.m., I get a massage, and it was just what I do every single day. It’s part of my routine.”

Correa started getting daily massages last year, and will be looking for a new masseuse.

“She said it never happened before in 20 years before and I said, ‘That’s not comforting,’” Correa said.

Pitch, Hit & Run event at Minute Maid Park

Major League Baseball and the Astros hosted their Pitch, Hit & Run competition Sunday morning at Minute Maid Park, prior to the Astros' series finale with the Orioles.

Pitch, Hit & Run is Major League Baseball's “Official Youth Skills Competition," and the top 12 baseball and top 12 softball qualifiers from Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi competed at Minute Maid Park with hopes of advancing to the National Finals during 2019 Major League Baseball All-Star Week in Cleveland.

The champions are as follows:

Age 7 and 8, softball:

Carley Martanovic, Austin, TX

Age 9 and 10, softball:

Danica Williams, Austin, TX

Age 11 and 12, softball:

Sarah Menard, McAllen, TX

Age 13 and 14, softball:

Katya Cantu, McAllen, TX

Age 7 and 8, baseball:

Cade Konarik, El Campo, TX

Age 9 and 10, baseball:

Eduardo Gomez-Horton, Austin, TX

Age 11 and 12, baseball:

Aiden Howard, West, MS