“He was 19, but even then it was like: ‘Could this guy make the team?’ ” said reliever Chad Qualls, a 12-year veteran. “They said he hadn’t even gotten out of A-ball. I said, ‘Are you kidding me?’ His hand-eye coordination, his approach at the plate, is unbelievable. He knows what he’s doing. He has a big league approach, and he’s only 20 years old. It’s amazing to see the things he can do.”

Astros Manager A. J. Hinch, who worked for the San Diego Padres in 2012, spent a week then scouting Correa in Puerto Rico. He was easily the best player, Hinch said, but there were obvious questions: Could Correa, who said he was now 6 feet 4 inches and 220 pounds, remain a shortstop? And when would his power develop?

By this spring, Hinch’s first as the Astros’ manager, there were no more doubts. The power has shown itself: Correa is the first shortstop in at least 100 years to hit nine home runs in his first 42 major league games. As for his ability to field his position at his size, Correa is only an inch taller than Troy Tulowitzki and Derek Jeter — his role model — and the same height as Cal Ripken Jr.

Hinch said Correa had an intuitive sense of timing, knowing when to unleash his strongest throws and when to back off. Smaller shortstops may be more agile, but Correa turns double plays well and plans to stay at shortstop for many years.

“I’m taking that as a challenge,” he said. “When I got drafted, people said I might outgrow shortstop. I think I’ve proved them wrong. I think I’ve proved to them that I can play the position, and I will stick there for the most part of my career.”

Correa speaks fluent English in his interviews, which he envisioned as a third grader, when he decided he wanted to play in the majors. He asked his parents to enroll him in a bilingual school so he would never need an interpreter. His father took a third construction job to afford it, and Correa studied there from fourth through ninth grade.