Correa invited to Texans camp, Hinch's office

HOUSTON -- Astros rookie shortstop Carlos Correa, whose takedown of teammate Jose Altuve during the celebration in the outfield following Sunday's walk-off win over the Tigers, earned an invitation to Texans camp, as well as a summons into manager A.J. Hinch's office on Monday.

Correa, who tackled Altuve below the knees and swung him around to the ground after Altuve's walk-off winner, had never had a reason to go into Hinch's office at Minute Maid Park prior to Monday, when the skipper asked him not to tackle Altuve again, for obvious reasons.

"It was pretty good form, but you have to find a different way to celebrate," Hinch said he told Correa. "I love the win and walk-offs, but the rolling around has to be replaced. What happened to the high five?"

Correa said he and Altuve are "like brothers" and often wrestle, so tackling him to the ground was just boys being boys. That being said, Correa understands the manager's concern when two star players are rolling around on the grass.

"I said I knew what I was doing, and I tackled him before, so it was not a first," Correa said, smiling. "It was a fun time. He was like, 'If he got hurt, I will hurt you, too.' Just joking, you know? A.J.'s a great manager; he's a players' coach and I think he should be the Manager of the Year for the American League. He's that good. Hopefully we can win that award, and we can win it for him."

Correa said the postgame celebrations will continue after walk-offs, but they will be toned down.

"It depends on what kind of walk-off," he said. "The adrenaline runs high on walk-offs, and you never know what to expect. Definitely we'll take it easier next time, but if I'm the one hitting the walk-off, I know Altuve is going to have a payback. He already told me, 'I'm going to be like a soccer player sliding into your shins.' I'm like, 'C'mon bro, if you tackle me, you're going to tackle my shins.' We started messing around like we always do. We have so much fun playing this game, and that's we care about. Just having fun every time we come to the field."

Correa will be at Texans training camp on Tuesday morning as a guest of the team. He's struck up a relationship with Texans star defensive lineman J.J. Watt, who was at Minute Maid Park earlier this year taking batting practice.

"I'll get to see some serious tackles, tackles from some beasts, some monsters," Correa said. "I'm really excited to see J.J. again and all of the guys -- [Jadeveon] Clowney -- and see what they do out there. I've never been to a camp, so it's definitely going to be exciting."

When asked what position Correa would play in football, Hinch said: "Shortstop."