Over the past month, it seemed like Houston Astros superstar infielder Carlos Correa was gearing up for a potentially incredible 2026 late-season return.

Correa suffered a left ankle tendon injury on May 5 and underwent surgery to repair the peroneus brevis tendon. He then announced at the start of August that he had not ruled out a return to the field.

Since that statement, Correa steadily built up his activity on the field to all kinds of baseball activities such as full sprints, hitting, base running, and fielding.

He was most recently at the Astros facility in West Palm Beach and all signs looked like a return might actually be real with minor league rehab games on the horizon.

However, that took a drastic turn on Tuesday as Astros manager Joe Espada announced that Correa will not return to the team this season, first reported by Chandler Rome of The Athletic.

Why Correa Won't Return in 2026

Espada revealed that Correa did not suffer a setback or re-injury. It was just the daily workload and recovery associated with coming back from the injury that became "too much for Correa to handle," per Rome.

After all, this was supposed to be a season-ending injury and surgery back in May. The initial anticipated recovery was six-to-eight months, and Correa was attempting to come back in just over three months since the surgery on May 11.

Trying to come back from something like that in half the time will obviously create a higher level of workload, given that the recovery process has to be quicker than originally thought. Correa will turn 32 on Sept. 22 and has a history of injuries.

Ultimately, the kind of grind required to successfully return way ahead of schedule just wasn't possible. This was always likely a long shot, but it felt like the momentum for a return was building up.

"The build-up on the last couple of days has really been kind of tough on his leg. It's created some soreness and stuff like that," Espada said according to Brian McTaggart of MLB.com.

The soreness was experienced on his surgically repaired ankle during his time at the Spring Training Facility, given the fact that Correa had been working out there over the past week. The Astros have now decided to shut him down on the rehab process for the rest of the year to target a healthy return in 2027.

Correa will return to Houston on Wednesday to get examined by doctors, per McTaggart. The Astros were recently looking at ways on how to implement him back in the lineup, but the current infield is what it'll be if they end up making the postseason.

Correa hit .279 this year with a .787 OPS, along with three homers and 16 RBI in just 32 games. That is the fewest amount of games Correa has ever played in his regular season career.