MLB PLAYER NEWS

Astros SS Correa (neck) sidelined for opener

Field Level Media

March 28, 2019 at 7:58 pm.

Oct 17, 2018; Houston, TX, USA; Houston Astros shortstop Carlos Correa (1) hits a RBI single in the second inning against the Boston Red Sox in game four of the 2018 ALCS playoff baseball series at Minute Maid Park. Photo Credit: Thomas B. Shea-USA TODAY Sports

Oct 17, 2018; Houston, TX, USA; Houston Astros shortstop Carlos Correa (1) hits a RBI single in the second inning against the Boston Red Sox in game four of the 2018 ALCS playoff baseball series at Minute Maid Park. Photo Credit: Thomas B. Shea-USA TODAY Sports

Houston Astros All-Star shortstop Carlos Correa is out of the lineup for Opening Day on Thursday as he grapples with a neck strain.

He took early batting practice before the Astros’ game with the Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana Field but declared himself a no-go. He told reporters he hopes to play at some point in the opening series.

Correa, 24, suffered the injury in a spring training game on Friday.

“I’m getting better, slowly better,” he said. “It’s day-to-day type of thing. I’m trying to feel great to where I can just swing and let it go. It happened — and obviously, bad timing — in one of the last games in Spring Training against the Mets. I went to tag (Michael) Conforto and tripped with him and fell on my shoulder. Thank God, (the injury) was not my shoulder; it was just my neck. I just recovered slowly.”

Correa was slowed last year with a back strain, and a torn thumb ligament in 2017 forced him to miss 53 games.

“My back is 100 percent,” he said. “I feel stronger and more flexible than I did in 2017. I felt like my Spring Training was great. I got my timing down, I got my rhythm down. My swing felt right again. I was able to swing hard and hit some balls hard, so I’m very confident about that, very positive about that. Let this neck heal real quick, and we’re back on the field.”

Adedmys Diaz started instead for manager AJ Hinch.

Correa, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2014 draft, had a strong spring, batting .333 with one home run and seven RBIs over 16 games.

In four major-league seasons, Correa has a .277 batting average with 81 home runs, 313 RBIs and 103 doubles.