Houston Astros shortstop Carlos Correa put together an incredible 2021 season. The cherry on top of winning the American League Pennant and his first-ever Gold Glove Award was winning the Platinum Glove Award for the AL. He is the first player in Astros history to win it and is the first shortstop to win since Francisco Lindor in 2016.
Correa explained on MLB Network how leaning more into advanced analytics helped him understand defense more and improve in that area.
“I was a Gold Glove finalist and I didn't end up winning it. And then I went to the Astros' analytics and asked for more informaiton. I said, ‘Why didn't I win it? What can I do to win a Gold Glove? What can I do to get better defensively? What metrics should I look at?' And they told me defensive runs saved, outs above average, UZR and all these crazy stats that not many people know about, and I got into it.
Every week, I was asking for updates from the team to make sure I was progressing, getting better with my first step. I was asking a lot for first step reactions, whcih is very important. [I] just kept getting better throughout the year.
With 21 defensive runs saved, Correa tied for the highest DRS mark in Major League Baseball with Pittsburgh Pirates catcher Jacob Stallings. Correa's 2.9 defensive wins above replacement stood alone as the highest total in the majors.
Correa is one of the biggest names in the free-agent market. He has yet to sign anywhere and received a contract offer from the Astros worth $160 million over five years, though that amount may be seen as a nonstarter.
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