Correa, Astros' lineup shaking off slow start

ARLINGTON -- Astros pitching, to begin the season, was typically otherworldly. The hitting, by Houston standards, was underwhelming.

By baseball definition, both were probably due for a little course correction.

On a night when Justin Verlander struggled with command of his breaking pitches and the Houston bullpen allowed more runs than it had in the first five games combined, the Astros lost to the Rangers, 6-4, on Tuesday at Globe Life Park. But the lineup -- which still has work to do, given it was 1-for-11 with runners in scoring position while stranding 11 runners -- did its part in keeping the Astros in the game.

It also received several encouraging signs that the collective sluggish output is beginning to transform into something a little more typical for this group.

The most glaring transformation has been from shortstop Carlos Correa, who in the first two games of the series against the Rangers gave several hints that his injury issues -- a sore neck that kept him out of the first three games of the season, and lower back pain that hampered him all last year -- are behind him.

It's not just that Correa is hitting. It’s how he's doing it. His double off the Rangers' Jesse Chavez in the sixth inning Tuesday that drove in Alex Bregman to tie the game had an exit velocity of 112.2 mph, marking the second time this series Correa has hit a ball at least 112 mph.

“It's very encouraging,” manager AJ Hinch said. “We need him, and this is exactly what was going on in the spring before he came up with the bad neck and had to miss a couple games. He's a real presence and he's getting pitches to hit, and he's laying off pitches he can't hit. ... He's been locked in, hitting the ball hard. When he does that, he's as good a hitter as anybody.”

Correa, who also made a spectacular diving stab of a Nomar Mazara grounder in the first, has hit three balls so far this season that have registered above 100 mph -- in his second plate appearance on Tuesday, he flied to center on a ball that came off his bat at 105.3 mph.

Why is this significant? Last year, Correa had two batted balls that registered 112 mph all year.

“It just feels good to hit the ball 110-plus,” Correa said. “I think last year I wasn't able to do that at all. To see the ball jumping off the bat the way it's jumping now gives me a lot of confidence. The way my hands and my body are moving toward the baseball, how fast I can move, it's a great relief. Last year, I couldn't do any of that.”

Correa’s confidence started to come back during Spring Training, when he noticed the uptick in exit velocity during his Grapefruit League at-bats. He was seeing some “116s, 112s, 113s,” he said, and at that point, he knew his power had returned.

“I knew my hand speed was back,” he said. “Last year I felt like I had to cheat because I was not as fast. I would get fooled a lot because I was trying to cheat. Now I feel like I can let the ball travel more, and I can be quick to it.”

While the Astros managed to set a club record for wins (103) last year even with Correa missing large chunks of time dealing with his back injury, his inability to play at full strength in the postseason eventually caught up to him, and to the team.

In other words, the Astros are a much different-looking bunch with their star shortstop in the middle of everything.

“He makes it all go ‘round,” Hinch said. “He can make up a lot of time and ground with his arm, and he did that tonight. He's our shortstop; he's going to be in the middle of the order. When he's at his best, he's a high-caliber player in this league.”