White Sox reliever Keynan Middleton on striking out Carlos Correa: ‘I enjoyed that a lot. I mean, he’s a cheater’
The Houston Astros sign-stealing scandal is a thing of the past for most. Their 2022 World Series victory put a lot of noise to rest for their 2017 trash-can banging scheme.
However, there still appears to be hatred left over, and no, it’s not just the fans who still chant “f—k [Jose] Altuve!” every so often at Yankee Stadium.
Chicago White Sox reliever Keynan Middleton loved every second of blowing a 96-mph fastball by Carlos Correa on Wednesday night to close out their 6-4 win over the Minnesota Twins.
“I knew I was going to face Correa, and I don’t like him. So it was kind of cool,” Middelton said. “I like that. I enjoyed that a lot. I mean, he’s a cheater.”
Correa was one of the core players of the 2017 Astros who were disciplined by Major League Baseball for their sign-stealing scheme of decoding signs and indicating what was coming by banging a trash can so the batter could hear. The organization was fined $5 million and docked several top draft picks. Although no players were singled out for punishment, the cheater label has hung over several members of the championship squad.
Middleton got a close-up view of the scheme as he made nine appearances against Houston in 2017 as a rookie reliever for the Los Angeles Angels.
The right-hander, who spent the first four seasons of his career with the Angels in the AL West, owned a 1.13 ERA against the eventual World Series champions.
Correa has gotten off to a slow start this season slashing .203/.287/.363 with three homers and 12 RBI this season.
The two-time All-Star saw two big-money contracts fall through during the offseason — 13-years, $350 million with the Giants, 12-years, $315 million with the Mets — over concerns about his long-term health. He eventually returned to the Twins on a six-year, $200 million contract.
The 28-year-old’s ankle scared teams away from committing to long-term agreements despite having never missed an MLB game due to an ankle injury.
Since he left the Astros — with the exception of the 27 games this season — the shortstop has still been effective and considered one of the best in the game. Correa has slashed .277/.353/.450 during his career as a Twin after he slashed .277/.356/.481 during his seven seasons with the Astros.
Houston’s success — four World Series appearances in six seasons — has proven to most that the Astros didn’t need trash cans to win games.
But for players like Middleton, it is always a motivating factor.
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