Astros promote Carlos Correa to Triple-A

The Houston Astros promoted shortstop Carlos Correa, the team's top prospect, to Triple-A Fresno on Monday.

"I'm going to go to Fresno to play good baseball and try to reach my goals and my dreams," Correa told the Houston Chronicle. "You work your entire life to get at some point to the big leagues. To get one step closer means a lot."

The 20-year-old Correa, who was the first overall pick in the 2012 amateur draft, was hitting .385 with seven home runs, 32 RBIs and 15 stolen bases with the Corpus Christi Hooks. He also was the Texas League's player of the week twice this season.

He batted .341 with two home runs in 18 spring training games with the Astros.

"Coming into the year we thought he needed to go to Double-A," Astros general manager Jeff Luhnow told the Chronicle. "We weren't sure for how long. I was thinking perhaps a couple of months, perhaps half a year depending on how he did.

"And quite frankly he performed better than I expected. It's clear with what he's done in the Texas League that he was ready for another challenge."

Correa was ranked as the No. 3 prospect in baseball -- behind the Cubs' Kris Bryant and the Twins' Byron Buxton -- by ESPN's Keith Law prior to the 2015 season.