MLB Villain Carlos Correa Makes Postseason History...Because He Cheated

Minnesota Twins shortstop Carlos Correa made postseason history last night, but it’s fair to question if he did so legitimately.

Correa recorded two RBIs in Game 2 of the ALDS against his former team, the Houston Astros. That upped his postseason RBI total to 63. That was enough to vault one of the sport’s biggest villains into a tie for third-most all-time with David Justice. 

In the process, he passed Derek Jeter and David Ortiz, two Hall of Famers who were some of the greatest postseason performers of their generation. During his postgame interview, Correa said he would need time to process his accomplishment.

“Wow, I gotta let that sink,”  Correa said. “I grew up watching these players and idolizing them, and to pass them already in RBIs, that’s surreal.”

Correa is an exceptional batter with a knack for performing well in October (he's driven in a run in 76 percent of his postseason games), so it's no surprise he’s already accomplished this feat. But his total, no matter how high it gets, will always be shrouded in doubt thanks to a little (or a lot of) help from some trash cans.

Carlos Correa's RBI Total Will Never Be Legitimate

Correa started at shortstop for the Astros from 2015-2022, making six postseason trips with his former club. That coincided with Houston’s egregious sign-stealing scandal, which took place from 2017-2019. They were caught infamously using trash cans to communicate incoming pitches. This means that what Correa accomplished during those three playoff runs came in large part because of cheating.

In those three postseason trips, Correa amassed 29 RBIs in 44 games. If we subtract these runs from his current postseason tally, he would tumble way out of the top three to number 35 on the all-time list, deadlocked with Andruw Jones, Kenny Lofton, and John Olerud with 34 RBIs.

Carlos Correa's postseason legacy will always be tarnished because of his part in the Astros sign-stealing scnadal. (Photo by Carmen Mandato/Getty Images)

It’s hard to say if every run he drove in during those three postseasons came with the help of trash cans. But that’s exactly the point: none of them should have. What’s even more ironic is that a hitter of his ability shouldn’t need extra help. He’d probably put up gaudy numbers without cheating. Nevertheless, Correa’s reputation of being a villain just got all the bigger, especially considering he passed two of the most respected hitters of all time in the process.

Correa got to where he was in large part because of cheating. He should let that sink in before he pops any champagne to celebrate.