10:17am: Bench coach/interim manager Jayce Tingler (Rocco Baldelli is away from the club after his wife recently gave birth — to twins, no less) and head trainer Nick Paparesta told reporters that they’re confident Correa will be ready for the beginning of the postseason (via Bobby Nightengale of the Minneapolis Star Tribune). Lewis, meanwhile, will undergo an MRI on his hamstring when the team returns to Minnesota this weekend (via Dan Hayes of The Athletic).
9:47am: The Twins announced Wednesday that they’ve placed shortstop Carlos Correa on the 10-day injured list. Correa was diagnosed with plantar fasciitis in his left foot back in May and has been playing through the injury throughout the 2023 season. It flared up earlier this week and forced him from Monday’s game in Cincinnati. He’ll be sidelined through at least next Friday now. Outfielder Trevor Larnach is up from Triple-A St. Paul to take his spot on the active roster.
Correa, 28, hit .291/.366/.467 in his first season with the Twins last year but has seen his production dip to .230/.312/.399 in 2023 while playing through that ailment. He’s still played strong defense at shortstop, and that batting line is “only” about four percent shy of league average, by measure of wRC+, but Minnesota clearly had higher hopes for the former Platinum Glove winner and two-time All-Star when signing him to a six-year, $200MM contract over the winter. Notably, the plantar fasciitis is in Correa’s left foot, which is not the same foot/leg that sparked the considerable offseason drama, led to multiple failed physicals, and eventually paved the way for his return to the Twins.
The timing of the injury is clearly unfortunate for the Twins, who are closing in on formally securing the American League Central title and punching their postseason ticket. There’s still time for Correa to be back with the club several days prior to the beginning of the playoffs, and that’ll be the team’s hope — particularly since Correa had been trending up at the dish. Correa had perhaps his worst month of the season in August but is batting .296/.377/.463 (136 wRC+) since the calendar flipped to September.
Minnesota’s injury woes don’t end there, however. The Twins saw breakout rookie Royce Lewis exit yesterday’s game with discomfort in his left hamstring. The 24-year-old former No. 1 overall pick hobbled a bit after trying to beat a grounder, and he exited the game during his next plate appearance after tweaking something on a foul ball swing (link via MLB.com’s Do-Hyoung Park).
To this point, there’s no indication Lewis will require a trip to the injured list, though the Twins will surely exercise caution. The longtime top prospect returned from his second ACL tear in as many years this season and has been among the best hitters in the American League when healthy, batting .309/.372/.548 with 15 home runs in 239 plate appearances. Lewis has seized the everyday job at third base and shown a flair for the dramatic, recently connecting on his fourth grand slam in a span of just three weeks.
Not coincidentally, a Minnesota lineup that has struggled with inconsistency throughout the season has done its best work in September, with both Lewis and Correa performing at high levels. The Twins are averaging 4.7 runs per game on the year but are tied with the Orioles for the MLB lead with 112 runs in 18 games this month (6.2 runs per game). With Correa sidelined and Lewis banged up, the Twins will likely turn to Kyle Farmer and Willi Castro at shortstop. Both players are options at third base as well, as is veteran Donovan Solano (who’s spent more time at first base this year).
How do you spell Correa?
O-V-E-R-R-A-T-E-D!!!
Funny, I think the Mets are spelled the same way
Brooklyn, the bit goes the other way around, a la “how do you spell relief? R-O-L-A-I-D-S”
(How can you not be pedantic about baseball?)
$20mil per year for Brandon Nimmo?….let’s not even bring up the Edwin Diaz situation.
As much as like Nimmo, I agree $20M is a stretch to pay him.
He gets at least $19M/yr just for sprinting to first like his pants are on fire after he draws a walk, if you ask me. Machado could take a leaf for sure.
“$20mil per year for Brandon Nimmo?”
He put up 5 WAR last year and will put up close to 4 WAR this year. No idea why Nimmo gets so much hate but he’s appropriately paid.
Oh sure, 4 WAR and $20 mil ago….our forefathers signed Lindor for over $30mil per season.
It funny how bout another to spell Correa. A-L-W-A-Y-S-I-N-J-U-R-E-D!!!
Ironically, isn’t that also how you also spell Judge?
@coupofthecentury- If that’s the way you spell Judge, then you are not paying attention, every team would want a Judge over a Correa on their team. No brainer. Nice try though, better luck next time!
Both are mutually exclusive. Would all 30 take Judge over Correa, probably yeah. But are both spelled the same? Sí
If always injured means playing at least 84% of his team’s game the last 4 seasons then ok!
You mean. O-V-E-R-P-A-Y-E-D
Seems like it’s better to get the 2nd WC so you can play MIN round 1
maybe…but what if Minn has Buxton, Correa, and Lewis back on the field by the playoffs?
3rd WC plays Minnesota, not the 2nd. 1st and 2nd play each other.
Bracket says otherwise – mlb.com/news/mlb-playoff-picture-and-bracket-2023
Maybe you have the records mixed up from the other day? Your link clearly shows the third wild card plays the Twins.
And the winner is….hiflew!!
Basically if you wanna pass your botched failed physical, just sign with the Twinkies!!! No problem!!!
Surely that worked out for the Rays last year
Should have placed him on the IL a week ago. Division is basically clinched and they’re stuck in the 3 spot. Rest the hurting guys and be ready for October
Correa has played through it all season, albeit poorly by his standards, so there’s no perfect timing to rest him.
They play Oakland, Angels and Rockies, even if they rest all starters they’d still win half of the games remaining
Twins should be playing non essentials as much as possible right now anyway. With the magic number at 3 they can lose out and still make it.
Heading into playoffs healthy and below 500 would make for some juicy betting opportunities.
This contract looks like a disaster.
He’s had plantar fasciitis all year. This injury has nothing to do with any of what the doctor saw before the season started. He’ll rest up in the offseason and be back fine next year. It’s affected his swing all year but takes months of rest to heal. He didn’t have that time this year so he’s played through it.
Depends on whether the plantar fasciitis is Acute or Chonic…..obviously Acute can be remedied by rest amongst several other treatments including surgery….but a Chronic version would make this contract a nightmare for the Twins because of a repeat of what they’ve seen this year performance wise vs the $$$ contract dollars they’ve spent and will spend…..time will tell but we can debate this all we want, nobody on Correa’s side or the Twins side is going to clarify whether this is a 1 year or recurring worry…….
Why doesn’t he just have surgery in the offseason and be done with it and ready for ST?
Shin injuries can absolutely cause plantar fasciities and other foot injuries. Especially if muscles are imbalanced. Which leads to odd movements of the ankle which in turn causes it.
The body is one interconnected system. Correa’s unrepairabke deep tissue problems are causing imbalances throughout his body and increasing all injury risk. No one should have given him a huge contract. The Twins made a horrendous error.
It’s 6yrs guaranteed and he’s producing enough to play him. It doesn’t really profile as a disaster any more than Byron Buxton’s contract. Bad yes. Disaster, no.
Miguel Cabrera, Albert Pujols, Stephen Strasburg, Chris Davis, those are disasters.
33 million is gone after one year.
Really worrisome if he can or cannot stay healthy next year.
Correa is literally the only Twins player who will qualify for batting titles this year (504+ plate appearances) and he ranks in the top 40 of all MLB hitters in terms of plate appearances over the past 3 years.
It’d certainly be nice if he didn’t play the full year injured, and here’s hoping the plantar fasciitis can be completely healed before next season.
That said, there isn’t any more injury concern with Correa right now as there was before the start of the season IMHO.
Miggy’s contract was only a disaster production wise. It paid for itself and then some revenue wise. Contracts like his are just as much about putting a face on a franchise as much as they are production
@Tigers3232 then Correa has paid for itself as well. No star player can possibly be a bad bet. Fans will go to games with or without Cabrera. Fans will buy jerseys with or without Cabrera’s name on the back.
Playoff ticket revenue for a single game is $10MM. Up to $140MM per year. When the Tigers were good, they were drawing 15,000 fans a game more. That’s $33MM/yr in ticket revenue alone.
Cabrera doesn’t cover that, even if he is a favorite of yours.
Carlos is not only overrated, he’s also very self-centered. The year José Altuve won the MVP, his comment was “I would like to win one someday”. “Congratulations” would’ve been nice.
He tries to steal the show in 2017 by proposing to his girlfriend at the World Series. Everything’s about him, he has always been that way. Tapping his wrist when he hits a home run, “it’s my time”.
Now a foot injury is why his numbers aren’t what they were expected to be. Most players don’t use excuses.
Whatever. I’m glad the Astros didn’t pay him. I’m glad the Giants and Mets woke up. Despite all of this, I wish Carlos the best. Particularly in the area of growing up.
I think when he pointed to his wrist he was saying “this is the only part of me not chronically hurt.”
… that “pep talk” on the mound with Valdez in 2021 was a bit much, too. A pure look-at-me moment. Not a Correa fan.
So this great “leader”, who has been playing with this all season, suddenly cannot play during the stretch run towards the postseason? I bet the Mets and Giants are happy they got out of that deal. He is having a bad season offensively and defensively.
They’re resting him until the postseason as the Twins has virtually locked a playoff spot. His defense has been league average at worst this season. Mets and Giants have bigger issues to worry about than patting themselves on the back for not signing Correa.
The Twins basically forced him onto the IL. There was a tweet from one of the reporters which said if they didn’t IL, Correa would find a way to talk them into putting him in the lineup.
Pretty much happens all the time where players fight to stay off the IL and want to continue playing. Part of the reason why we see IL placement with retroactive dates.
crap. I really like Lewis and Correa. sad face. Buxton too. double sad.
*Birth
Baldelli’s wife gave birth not berth.
It’s a subtle reference to HMS Pinafore.
zlee: Was it an upper berth or a lower berth?
Having twins or triplets must be a $@& awesome feeling as a red-blooded alpha male leader of a MLB team. Rocco was always a badass anyway, giving the umpires the two cents they needed and willingly getting ejected for it. He’s the reason the Twins are even in the playoffs.
There’s also a manager as good in Cleveland. Be interesting to see how much further the Guards fall in 2004 under a new manager.
So what should Rocco and his wife name the “Twins”? Minnie and (Saint) Paul? Harmon and Kirby? Oh the possibilities!
Gonna put out Justin and Joe for the JM era
Anyone know if it was two boys, two girls or one of each?
Keeping Correa at the discounted potential foot injury discount rate worked out for them so it was a success. They walked away with the Central, they won on that deal. Letting him heal up for the playoffs is a smart move. Any team winning a division after making a big commitment can’t ever be faulted.
After all who else plays for the Twins ? You have to be a real Twin fan to know so. With having Correa at least you have one name everyone knows. Watching the comic relief we call the West division where everyone is losing down the stretch is funny. Those monster teams are falling down to the Twins level now. Toronto would be leading the West, and the Central. The Twins done way better with their big purchase versus the Tigers so this fan thinks they’ve done well with keeping Correa.. Can’t argue with first in the division.
MPr k: Yeah, the Twins done did better than the Tigers done did with their big purchase but, as the Angels showed, it takes more than one player to reach the PO even if they did play in the Comedy Central Division. With or without Correa, I think the Twins are going to own the division for the foreseeable future. The rest of the teams should fight it out to see who will be playing the AAA champion.
Right now it’s a bad contract already but they can manage for now since some of their good players are still relatively young and cheap. It’s going to get worse for the team to manage the roster when their young players get more expensive in arbitration. They’ll have to make some tough decisions in a couple years. Correa has been awful this year, and his injuries are piling up already. It’s not much of a leap to think he’s going to age poorly.
Not good news for the Twins. I hope their optimism is warranted, but Ryan Zimmerman dealt with plantar fasciitis off and on for about 2 years with the Nationals. Potentially very problematic condition. Lewis’ hamstring is a blow too. Luckily their division position seems secure but it is hard to believe that the Indians still have a mathematical shot at it! Twins should probably experience a quick exit from the postseason.
Guardians*
Not sure how much help 2 weeks off will be for Correa, but it seems prudent given his struggles. The bigger impact, IMHO, is Royce Lewis, who has really been a leader on the field for the Twins. Sending Lewis back out there after he tweaked the hammy on his run to first base is nuts.
The stats never impress me as much as the caliber of the player, and in that, Correa has been a great addition for the Twins. I’d pay to watch.
The cortisone shot wore off?
Hopefully he comes back in time for the WC so he can stink it up.
Didn’t plantar fasciitis essentially end Carlos Quentin’s career?
Yep, and I think Albert Pujols had it as well. It really does annihilate a player’s abilities.
It derailed Evan Longoria’s.
I had plantar fasciitis and I can’t imagine running with it. I think it took two years for it to settle down.
Geez if the giants or Mets signed Correa he’d be on the dl for their layoff run I meant playoff run. Dodged a bullet there.
“Meanwhile” can’t come in the middle of the sentence. It has to START the sentence. When will this hack Adams learn???
Bugger off.
You don’t think syntax is a big deal, huh? Go back to English class, kid.