Correa making great strides in recovery

HOUSTON -- The Astros' top prospect, shortstop Carlos Correa, who broke his fibula in June while playing for Class A Lancaster and was lost for the season, is progressing so well that he's able to run and take some ground balls while working out in Kissimmee, Fla.

General manager Jeff Luhnow said on Wednesday that although Correa isn't in a position to play in the instructional league, which begins later this month, he should be able to take ground balls during infield drills and participate in batting practice. He won't play in games, however.

"It's a very good sign, where we feel like we're ahead of plan, which is a good place to be," Luhnow said. "I've seen a lot of guys go through injury recovery before, and he's as diligent and focused on healing as possible. Obviously, the body has to heal naturally, but he's not going to let any lack of effort and work delay him by one day."

Luhnow said that Correa would be ready to play in the Puerto Rican Winter League but didn't know if it would be to his benefit.

"I think we want to make sure he's 100 percent healthy and start the process of preparing him for Spring Training," he said. "That's a multi-month process. Last year we did not allow Jose Altuve to play winter ball. He came to Houston in early January and started preparing for the season and spent the month of January and the first half of February preparing to have best year of his career."

Correa was hitting .325 with six homers and 57 RBIs in 62 games for Lancaster, with an on-base percentage of .416 and an OPS of .926, and was in line to be promoted to Double-A Corpus Christi before he was injured.