Carlos Correa foresaw critical pick-off way before it happened

"For him to have that awareness is what makes him special."

There were a pair of key moments that helped the Twins beat Toronto 2-0 Wednesday and advance in the playoffs for the first time in 21 years. There was the Matt Chapman bases-loaded line drive that went foul by inches and there was the Twins picking off Vladimir Guerrero Jr. to end a threat in the fifth inning. 

What a massive pickoff by the @Twins! #Postseason pic.twitter.com/i4g9ULQmjx

— MLB (@MLB) October 4, 2023

The pick-off play was all Carlos Correa's idea, according to Sonny Gray, who made the perfect spin and throw to Correa for the inning-ending out. And Correa had been thinking about the opportunity since the beginning of the game. 

Carlos comes up after the first inning," Gray said, explaining how the play went down, "he comes up after the first inning and he says, "Hey, listen listen listen to me. They can't hear the third base coach yell 'back.' There's going to be an option to pick, he's like the timing pick is going to be there, it's going to be there.' I'm like, 'Okay okay okay.'

"So the game unfolds how it unfolds. We get there in the fifth inning, 3-2 count and I hear 'timing pick, second base' and I'm like, 'Alright, yeah we talked about this. Cool.' So now I'm just trying to go through my process, all my normal ticks and all the stuff that I do. And then I get on the mound and I'm waiting for it to unfold. I turn, and when I turn I see Carlos at the bag and I see Vladdy off the bag a decent amount. I turn, give the ball to Carlos, Carlos catches it and makes an incredible tag...and we get him out."

Sonny Gray says Carlos Correa called the pickoff play on Vlad Guerrero Jr. He told him the Blue Jays couldn’t hear their third base coach tell “back” because #MNTwins fans were so loud. @FOX9 pic.twitter.com/9g9DwVGlQb

— Jeff Wald (@JeffWaldFox9) October 5, 2023

Gray went to the dugout and asked who called for the pick-off. That's when he found out it was Correa's idea. 

"For him to have the awareness earlier in the game to say hey, this is an option, this is there for us. And then in a moment like that, to have the awareness to relay it from shortstop to the dugout and the dugout to relay it into the pitch comms, for me, it was just about executing the play, but for him to have that awareness is what makes him special."

Alex Rodriguez, working as an analyst for ESPN's coverage of the playoffs, described during a replay that Gray touching the bill of his hat was likely the indicator to Correa that the pick-off play was on. Little did he know at the time that it was Correa's idea. 

A-Rod says that Sonny Gray touched his hat as the indicator to Carlos Correa for the pickoff play pic.twitter.com/w6CvldISih

— Talkin’ Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) October 4, 2023

It was only two games to sweep Toronto, but Correa was a wizard at shortstop both games. He had the throw of the year – a play that drew comps to Derek Jeter's famous flip against he A's –in Game 1 and then the brilliant mind and glove work in Game 2, not to mention his RBI single serving as the winning hit.