Christian Correa

From BR Bullpen

(Redirected from Cristian Correa)

Christian Correa

  • Bats Right, Throws Right
  • Height 5' 10", Weight 210 lb.

BR Register page

Biographical Information[edit]

Christian Correa has played in the minors and for the Colombian national team.

Correa was All-County in high school and All-Conference both years at Chipola College. [1] Transferring to Nicholls State University, he hit .235/.335/.294 as a junior and .261/.354/.345 as a senior. Houston Astros scout Justin Cryer signed him as an undrafted free agent. [2]

He made his pro debut with the GCL Astros and was only 1 for 17 with two walks in 11 games yet moved up to the Greeneville Astros (.167/.333/.250 in 13 G). In 2016, he was with the Quad Cities River Bandits (.215/.279/.273 in 59 G) and Lancaster JetHawks (.227/.346/.727 in 7 G), fielding .991 at catcher. During 2017, he played error-free ball for the Buies Creek Astros (.208/.296/.378 in 16 G) and then was let go. He was picked up by the independent Kansas City T-Bones briefly (.214/.333/.357 in 8 G) before the Colorado Rockies signed him and he was 1 for 12 with a walk for the Boise Hawks to end the year.

In indy ball for all of 2018, he produced at a .292/.360/.383 clip for the Sussex County Miners, splitting catching with Luis Alen (interestingly, they both would be in the Pan American Games the next year). He had a big winter for the Caimanes de Barranquilla in the Colombian League, hitting .323 and throwing out 67% of those who tried to steal. [3] Being of Colombian ancestry, he got to play for Colombia in the 2019 Pan American Games Qualifier. He made a bang right away, homering off Jared Mortensen in a win over Team Canada and also going deep against Nicaragua. He finished the event at .500/.583/1.100, second in average and slugging to Garabez Rosa and edging Rosa for the best OBP while tying for 2nd in homers. He helped Colombia make it to the 2019 Pan American Games. [4]

Correa played for the Kansas City T-Bones in the summer of 2019 but took a break to represent Colombia at the 2019 Pan American Games. He continued to shine for Colombia, hitting .455/.435/.773 with 6 runs and 7 RBI in 6 games while playing error-free defense behind the dish. He had 3 hits and 2 runs in their opening upset over Cuba and had 3 hits and 3 RBI versus Nicaragua. He went deep off former Cuban MVP Lázaro Blanco and former major leaguer Scott Richmond of Canada. In the Bronze Medal Game, he was 0 for 4 with two whiffs as Colombia's cleanup man in a loss to Nicaragua for the one down-moment. He was 6th in the event in average (between Agustín Tissera and César Prieto), 2nd in slugging (.109 behind former MLB regular Ronny Paulino), tied for 3rd in RBI (with Connor Panas), tied for the home run lead (with Brahiam Maldonado, Paulino and teammate Derwin Pomare) and tied Pompare and Eric Wood for 3rd in runs. [5]

Correa continued to play in the independent leagues through the 2022 season. He helped the Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks win the Miles Wolff Cup in the American Association his last year.

Before his playing career ended, Correa returned to college to earn a master's degree in Exercise and Sports Science from Eastern Kentucky University. While there, he also worked as a graduate assistant coach for the Colonels in 2021-2022. Correa turned to coaching professionally in 2023 when the Milwaukee Brewers hired him as the development coach for the Biloxi Shuckers.

Sources[edit]

  1. Nicholls State bio
  2. 2016 Astros Media Guide, pg. 302
  3. Nicholls State
  4. 2019 Pan American Games Qualifier Stats Report
  5. 2019 Pan American Games site