8 MLB Hitters Who Are Racking Up Home Runs Despite a Ton of Ground Balls
Carlos Correa, Houston Astros
Despite racking up somewhat similar numbers through his first three years in the big leagues, Houston Astros shortstop Carlos Correa has truly shown what kind of power potential he has.
After needing just 432 plate appearances to slug 22 bombs and post a .233 ISO as a rookie, he took a step back in 2016 (20 homers and .177 ISO in 660 plate appearances). It's a shame he tore a ligament in his thumb back in July, because he was on pace to smash all of those numbers -- with just 375 plate appearances under his belt, the 22-year-old already has 20 dingers and a .246 ISO.
Correa's tendency for hitting a lot of ground balls isn't anything new in the majors -- since debuting in 2015, he has a career 49.5% ground-ball rate. What has changed is his fly-ball rate, which is on pace to be above 30.0% for the first time (32.2%), and his hard-hit rate, which is on track to increase significantly for the third straight year (39.5%).
But after a slow start to the season, Correa didn't start catching fire until his ground-ball rate went up and his fly-ball rate went south. Check out the month-by-month look at his batted-ball profile, along with the wRC+ and ISO he produced during those particular periods.
| Month | PA | LD% | GB% | FB% | ISO | wRC+ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| April | 86 | 18.8% | 42.2% | 39.1% | .116 | 77 |
| May | 101 | 17.6% | 48.2% | 34.1% | .287 | 201 |
| June | 102 | 20.3% | 53.2% | 26.6% | .255 | 147 |
| July | 36 | 13.3% | 60.0% | 26.7% | .417 | 244 |
All the reasons why we thought his slow start in April wouldn't last are valid (he paired the above numbers with a 45.3% hard-hit rate, too), but he didn't get hot until things started to settle in around his career norms.
