Barry University baseball star Alex De Goti makes his MLB debut with Houston Astros

Carlos Correa leaned over and offered advice.

“Same game,” Correa told his new Houston Astros teammate, Alex De Goti, “just a different movie theatre.”

It was Correa’s way of calming De Goti, the former Belen Jesuit and Barry University standout who made his major-league debut last Friday, going 2 for 4 with two runs scored and one RBI while playing a flawless second base in a 6-5 loss at the Seattle Mariners.

De Goti had gotten the news he was headed to the majors just two days prior. He was at the Astros’ alternate site in Corpus Christi, Texas, when Triple-A manager Mickey Storey told him he was headed for The Show.

“A lot of emotions started flowing,” De Goti said. “I starting crying. I called my family, and then I cried some more.

“When [Astros manager Dusty Baker] let me know I was going to start, I was excited to play with a bunch of superstars.”

De Goti said several friends and family members flew out from Miami to Seattle to see his major-league debut, including his parents, Jose and Annette; his grandparents, Jose Sr. and Sara; and his brothers, Chris and Brandon (a freshman shortstop at Belen).

De Goti became just the second Belen player to make the majors and the first since right-hander Nick Martinez broke through in 2014. Martinez is now playing in Japan.

Correa and De Goti are both 26 years old, but there’s a reason why the former was advising the latter. Correa, an All-Star shortstop, is already in his seventh major-league season and was the first overall pick in the 2012 MLB Draft.

De Goti, meanwhile, has taken the scenic route to the majors. He signed with Long Beach State, but he mostly rode the bench for all three of his years there, batting .161 in a total of 149 at-bats.

He then transferred to Barry, and in one season he rebuilt his stock, batting .404 with 10 doubles, two triples, 14 homers, 22 steals and 58 RBI in 49 games.

Impressed, the Astros drafted him in the 15th round, and De Goti then started grinding his way through Houston’s minor-league system.

Jerry Albert, who coached De Goti at Belen and still runs the Wolverines program, said his former star has always had a great attitude.

De Goti works out with the Belen boys every offseason, leading by example.

“Alex is very sure of himself, and if he were frustrated by all those years in the minors, you would never know it,” Albert said. “He had a great spring training this year, but he didn’t break camp with the team because the Astros are so talented.

“But I think Alex knows he belongs there.”

De Goti got his chance after five Astros players — including six-time All-Star second baseman Jose Altuve and two-time All-Star third baseman Alex Bregman — were placed on the injured list due to COVID-19 protocols.

But with four of those five players back on Tuesday, De Goti’s run in the majors ended, at least for now.

De Goti said his three years on the Long Beach bench and his six seasons in the minors have given him added character.

“I wouldn’t have wanted it any other way,” he said. “All that adversity — and overcoming it — has made me who I am.”

This story was originally published April 21, 2021 at 10:47 AM.