The Big Question: Minnesota Twins Shortstop

[Ted Schwerzler]

Coming into the 2024 Major League Baseball season, Carlos Correa is the only player with a higher level of scrutiny around their health than Byron Buxton. After playing through a nagging foot just last season, how ready is he, and how long will it last?

Rocco Baldelli doesn’t have to worry about who he pencils in at shortstop each day during the 2024 season. Carlos Correa was signed to a $200 million contract to be a roster cornerstone that is out there every day. Despite playing through plantar fasciitis pain last season, he still appeared in 135 games.

That isn’t going to suffice for Correa, and the production he displayed was also reflective of a player at significantly less than 100%. When the dust settled, he produced just 1.1 fWAR. That tally was the lowest single-season total of his career and the only time he was worth less than 3.4 fWAR in a full season.

Health is the key for Correa, and he has turned a corner. Coming into camp without worrying about the plantar fasciitis problem, he can focus on returning to his usual self. He doesn’t need to tweak his swing to overcome a nagging foot, and the defense may be where he can benefit most.

Minnesota needs the infield defense to be a strength this year, and it wasn’t that in 2023. Edouard Julien is now the starter at second base, and he has been a work in progress there, which puts more pressure on Correa, Royce Lewis, and the combination of Carlos Santana and Alex Kirilloff to prop him up. Correa, playing next to Julien, will be the most significant asset, and it stands to reason he can make up for some of the deficiencies now that he is healthy.

 

 

 

When dealing with the injury, it wouldn’t have just been a swing or load problem with Correa’s foot. He clearly struggled to plant and pivot defensively, and for someone who doesn’t have much speed, fielding batted balls is about quick twitch movements and angles. The Twins never saw a decline in what can only be described as howitzer-like arm strength. Still, their shortstop having an opportunity to field more baseballs will generate additional outs.

Playing good defense is something that could translate to the batter’s box as well. A stronger base will help him to attack opposing hitters, but making last season’s career-worst 94 OPS+ look like a mirage would be great to see. In no previous full season did Correa wind up with less than a 99 OPS+, and his career 129 OPS+ is what Minnesota re-upped, thinking they would get.

The former Astros shortstop isn’t an average hitter with a career .272 mark, but his .351 on-base percentage is where the Twins felt the most considerable hurt. With a lineup that struck out in droves, Correa contributing 131 of them while drawing only 59 walks hurt quite a bit. His 18 home runs were also below customary totals, and overcompensation, as well as a troubled body, can hopefully be considered the culprit.

The New York Mets and San Francisco Giants reneged on their contract offers to Correa following medicals surrounding concerns regarding his ankle. That hasn’t been part of the puzzle to this point, and Minnesota felt comfortable with where he was in that regard anyway. Plantar fasciitis popped up and proved challenging in and of itself, but that isn’t considered degenerative or career-altering.

Baldelli has alternative options behind his starter in the form of Royce Lewis and Brooks Lee, but he doesn’t want to use either, knowing it means missed time for Correa. The Twins shortstop position is arguably in a better place than at any point previously in franchise history. The quicker Correa can remind everyone of that, the better.

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[Rod Carews Birthday]

Even though he’s had his share of injuries I think that Carlos Correa can be counted on for a few things.

1. 100% effort.

2. Leadership.

3.  No excuses.  

If he thinks he’s healthy, I’m willing to bet on him being a major part of the Twins’ offensive and defensive production this year.  There are no sure things anywhere, ever, but he seems about as solid a bet as the Twins have.  

[bean5302]

Curious the article overlooks Correa's -3 OAA in 2022... OAA has a tendency to swing wildly from year to year, and Correa follows the trend.

In any case, Correa wasn't able to get in meaningful work until December so there's probably not a reason to expect his range to improve. Quick reflexes, a sure glove and a cannon arm give Correa a nice floor at SS, but his sprint speed has dropped off a lot from early in his career. 

I expect Correa to have a huge bounce back year at the plate and for him to at least be an average fielder at SS. A nice 4-5 WAR campaign as you'd expect from an All Star caliber position player.

[Karbo]

I would put Correa at #3 for injuries concern. IMO AK should be #2.

[Parfigliano]

I would be happy with a repeat of Correa's defense from last year.  With a healthy foot I'm counting on a big jump in offensive production more in line with his career .820 OPS

[Schmoeman5]

There's one thing that's always talked about. Correa and his cannon arm? And it's not an argument. But if he has such a strong arm, why are a good percentage of his throws dug out by the 1st baseman? Does he believe that a 1 hopper gets there faster. If that's the case someone needs to explain to him the laws of physics.

[ashbury]

4 hours ago, Karbo said:

I would put Correa at #3 for injuries concern. IMO AK should be #2.

The injury risk for Kirilloff may be high, but if the concern is "what happens to the team if Player X is injured and how likely is that," then for Kirilloff the answer may be "oh well, maybe someone else steps up," while for Buxton and Correa the answer is more like "hope our Plan B is solid, because there's going to be a dropoff even in the best case."

[bean5302]

Games played over the past 3 years.
Lewis = 70, Qualified 0 seasons
Kirilloff = 192, Qualified 0 seasons
Buxton = 238, Qualified 0 seasons
Kepler = 366, Qualified 0 seasons
Correa = 419, Qualified all 3 seasons

The biggest drop off in performance from starter to depth is Royce Lewis since I have faith Lewis can put in a full season, but based on his injury history, he's my number one concern.

IMHO, Kirilloff is the most likely to miss the most games this year. 

[tcttejtf]

Julien is rapidly improving at second base. Roughly twenty years ago Corie Koskie was below average at third base and made himself into a much better fielder. through thousands of reps in the field. Tom Kelly and the staff worked with him and he might have wound up being one of the top players at his position in Twins history if it wasn't for concussion issues a few years later.

Julien has the talent to do the same. 

[sweetmusicviola16]

Kyle Farmer is not an option at SS, other than once a week or so. If he's at SS over 20-25 games then we are in trouble. Just my opinion.

 

Correa needs to give us 4 plus WAR. 145 games. 25 plus HR/80 plus RBI. 

[DocBauer]

I've had the same plantar issue and it's debilitating. For him to do what he did do is almost crazy. Since he felt better late in the season and says it's gone now, I take him at his word. I am not worried about him AT ALL. I expect his usual great defense, though a little better than 2023 with two good feet. I think his offense will fall right back in line with his normal career type productions.

Since defense in general has been brought up, I liked the obvious improvement Julien showed and I expect that to continue. Not often discussed is Wallner looked better as the season went along as well. While I have serious issues with a 38yo Santana potentially being in the lineup, one decent rebound season after 3 poor ones, and not exactly great against RHP, I don't doubt his glove. But AK has flashed the leather better than he did in 2023, and I think the playoff error has skewed opinion on him somewhat. With his wrist seemingly fixed, I'm confidently expecting the best season of his career. And he's got enough ability to round in to a solid 1B. If I'm right, Santana will help, but will only end up splitting 1B, and not be the primary 1B. That would be beneficial for this season and beyond, meaning Kirilloff finally establishing himself.

[joefish]

12 hours ago, ashbury said:

The injury risk for Kirilloff may be high, but if the concern is "what happens to the team if Player X is injured and how likely is that," then for Kirilloff the answer may be "oh well, maybe someone else steps up," while for Buxton and Correa the answer is more like "hope our Plan B is solid, because there's going to be a dropoff even in the best case."

I believe that our option B for anybody must be better than playing option A if he is injured.

I want us to be that deep and that good.

[JD-TWINS]

19 hours ago, bean5302 said:

Curious the article overlooks Correa's -3 OAA in 2022... OAA has a tendency to swing wildly from year to year, and Correa follows the trend.

In any case, Correa wasn't able to get in meaningful work until December so there's probably not a reason to expect his range to improve. Quick reflexes, a sure glove and a cannon arm give Correa a nice floor at SS, but his sprint speed has dropped off a lot from early in his career. 

I expect Correa to have a huge bounce back year at the plate and for him to at least be an average fielder at SS. A nice 4-5 WAR campaign as you'd expect from an All Star caliber position player.

……can’t get too concerned about his sprint speed dropping if he was running like Killebrew in ‘23 with foot injury. To me his range isn’t fantastic but he’s very solid (to me) on balls he gets to and his arm makes up for some deficiencies.

Agreed, a 4.0 WAR season should be on the way and that’s a big boost over ‘23!!

[saviking]

I promised myself I would not criticize Correa this year. Well, I'll give him April and May. After that he has to perform. 

[miracleb]

21 hours ago, Rod Carews Birthday said:

Even though he’s had his share of injuries I think that Carlos Correa can be counted on for a few things.

1. 100% effort.

2. Leadership.

3.  No excuses.  

If he thinks he’s healthy, I’m willing to bet on him being a major part of the Twins’ offensive and defensive production this year.  There are no sure things anywhere, ever, but he seems about as solid a bet as the Twins have.  

Those 3 things and a quarter will buy you cup of coffee.  If he puts up Pedro Florimon numbers......#1, #2, #3 are worthless...... and no one will be talking about them at all.  

PS   I guess the "cup of coffee for a quarter" saying......... might be a little 'dated' these days......

[Rod Carews Birthday]

4 minutes ago, miracleb said:

Those 3 things and a quarter will buy you cup of coffee.  If he puts up Pedro Florimon numbers......#1, #2, #3 are worthless...... and no one will be talking about them at all.  

PS   I guess the "cup of coffee for a quarter" saying......... might be a little 'dated' these days......

True but Pedro Florimon didn’t have Carlos Correa’s historical production or talent.  With some health I’m pretty confident about Carlos Correa.  

[terrydactyls]

15 hours ago, DocBauer said:

I've had the same plantar issue and it's debilitating. For him to do what he did do is almost crazy. Since he felt better late in the season and says it's gone now, I take him at his word. I am not worried about him AT ALL. I expect his usual great defense, though a little better than 2023 with two good feet. I think his offense will fall right back in line with his normal career type productions.

Since defense in general has been brought up, I liked the obvious improvement Julien showed and I expect that to continue. Not often discussed is Wallner looked better as the season went along as well. While I have serious issues with a 38yo Santana potentially being in the lineup, one decent rebound season after 3 poor ones, and not exactly great against RHP, I don't doubt his glove. But AK has flashed the leather better than he did in 2023, and I think the playoff error has skewed opinion on him somewhat. With his wrist seemingly fixed, I'm confidently expecting the best season of his career. And he's got enough ability to round in to a solid 1B. If I'm right, Santana will help, but will only end up splitting 1B, and not be the primary 1B. That would be beneficial for this season and beyond, meaning Kirilloff finally establishing himself.

As a fellow sufferer of plantar fasciitis, I too was astounded by how well Correa performed.  I had trouble moving from the couch to the refrigerator.  But being an athlete, I was able to overcome the pain and get that beer.

[Jocko87]

48 minutes ago, terrydactyls said:

As a fellow sufferer of plantar fasciitis, I too was astounded by how well Correa performed.  I had trouble moving from the couch to the refrigerator.  But being an athlete, I was able to overcome the pain and get that beer.

Lol, you and me both! I have the plantar fasciitis that makes me walk like I'm 105 for about 30-40 steps then suddenly I can walk fine. The longer I don't move, the more steps it takes to get moving. Standing still makes it start to lock up, which feels very tough for baseball what with all the standing around.

I really appreciate what he did last year with this crap. Combined with coming off the weirdest free agency we've seen in a while I'm expecting a standard Correa season this year.

[bean5302]

22 hours ago, sweetmusicviola16 said:

Kyle Farmer is not an option at SS, other than once a week or so. If he's at SS over 20-25 games then we are in trouble. Just my opinion.

 

Correa needs to give us 4 plus WAR. 145 games. 25 plus HR/80 plus RBI. 

Farmer is a solid SS, even if he doesn't have the cannon arm that Correa has because he has a very sure glove. Farmer is just as rangey as Correa (which is to say not very), but the defensive grades on Farmer at short are solid. That's to be expected as well, since Farmer was brought in by the Twins to be our likely starting shortstop last year before re-signing Correa. Farmer's bat is MLB average. More than adequate for SS, where the ultimate utility guy would likely post 2.5 WAR in a full season.

[DocBauer]

6 hours ago, bean5302 said:

Farmer is a solid SS, even if he doesn't have the cannon arm that Correa has because he has a very sure glove. Farmer is just as rangey as Correa (which is to say not very), but the defensive grades on Farmer at short are solid. That's to be expected as well, since Farmer was brought in by the Twins to be our likely starting shortstop last year before re-signing Correa. Farmer's bat is MLB average. More than adequate for SS, where the ultimate utility guy would likely post 2.5 WAR in a full season.

Just want to add, Farmer's role on the team is a solid, veteran backup at 3 spots, and probable quasi-platoon at 2B with Julien. The fact that he could handle 1B or LF in a pinch isn't even much of a factor. He has his role.

If...knock on wood....Correa had some sort of injury that kept him out for an extended time, the Twins would probably put Lee at SS and keep Farmer in his current role.

[nokomismod]

PF is no joke and I hope it's behind him. The guy is a leader, and I personally feel great about him anchoring the infield.
In case anyone forgot this play. It was my favorite play from last year's post season. Great instincts and what a throw to the plate.
Correa Throw Home

[Melissa]

On 3/9/2024 at 10:54 PM, nokomismod said:

PF is no joke and I hope it's behind him. The guy is a leader, and I personally feel great about him anchoring the infield.
In case anyone forgot this play. It was my favorite play from last year's post season. Great instincts and what a throw to the plate.
Correa Throw Home

I was at Target Field and that play was the best I’ve seen in person in my 70 years. I’m past ready to put all the offseason speculation and worries in the rear view mirror and ramp up the excitement for baseball!

Go Twins!!

[miracleb]

On 3/9/2024 at 8:33 AM, Rod Carews Birthday said:

True but Pedro Florimon didn’t have Carlos Correa’s historical production or talent.  With some health I’m pretty confident about Carlos Correa.  

I don't disagree.......but we MUST have his previous production.....or that contract is overwhelmingly terrible!

[Guest]

 

 

It's been a while since this article was posted so I feel it is safe for me to post this and the moderators won't discipline me too much. so here it is: 

After reading this article and every comment to date, I guess I came away with a totally different take than everybody else.  And now that this article is “old” I feel like I can articulate my interpretation of it as it may be considered a bit off topic.  What is my take? The rarely seen or used double i letter combination in the English language.

So I just wanted to share some of my favorite ii words with you, starting from shorter to longer words.

Five letter word:

piing – spilling and mixing indiscriminately.

Six letter word:

obiism -   the belief in magical spells that harness occult forces or evil spirits to produce unnatural effects in the world

Seven letter word:

taxiing - being transported by taxi.

Eight letter word:

shiitake – a mushroom

Bonus Eight letter word:

baldelii – my preferred spelling of baldelli

Nine letter word:

tholeiite - a type of igneous or volcanic rock

Ten letter word:

saturniid - various often large and colorful moths

I know I have probably shared too much as it is, but thanks for reading!

[Guest]

Oh, I also see I have 123 reputations points that TD defines as Neutral. This reminds me of my first performance review, for a real job, where my boss told me that "I met minimum standards", and then told me to get back to work.

[Guest]

The funny thing is, I kept getting promoted throughout my "career". I may truly be the embodiment of the Peter Principal. Everybody has worked for one of these idiots, but can't actually claim to be one.