Carlos Correa Returns to Twins Lineup as Playoff Push Intensifies

[Parker Hageman]

Guess who's back? Tell a friend.

Image courtesy of © Matt Marton-Imagn Images

We're getting the band back together.

On Friday night, Byron Buxton made his return to the Twins lineup, punctuated with a game-tying solo blast. Following that game, the Twins announced that shortstop Carlos Correa will be activated for Saturday's game.

It's a big turnaround for the All-Star, who just a few days ago was not expected to be activated during the current homestand. He switched treatments, and, while painful to the point of bringing him near tears, the results showed rapid signs of improvement and manager Rocco Baldelli hinted recently that his return might come sooner than expected. 

Outside of the leadership and offensive production (Correa was hitting .308/.377/.520 at the time of the injury), the Twins' defense could potentially use his presence the most. After a month of August in which the team posted an Outs Above Average mark of -7 (27th out of 30 teams), they are currently matching that number this month. If nothing else, the pitching staff should be happy to see Buxton and Correa in vital up-the-middle defense again.

If you are looking for a little optimism, this is it. 

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[Parfigliano]

Maybe just have him DH the rest of this series and see how the foot is.

[Jocko87]

5 minutes ago, Parfigliano said:

Maybe just have him DH the rest of this series and see how the foot is.

Nope, full bore or nothing.  No time for otherwise.

Just having him and Buck back in the lineup shifts guys to much better roles where they can excel.  Its a really solid lineup when a Jeffers or a Lee hits in the 9 hole.

Also, sign me up for whatever this very painful treatment is.  My golden retriever has a lot of energy and I've got walking to do.

[$tryf4Life]

12 minutes ago, Jocko87 said:

Nope, full bore or nothing.  No time for otherwise.

Just having him and Buck back in the lineup shifts guys to much better roles where they can excel.  Its a really solid lineup when a Jeffers or a Lee hits in the 9 hole.

Also, sign me up for whatever this very painful treatment is.  My golden retriever has a lot of energy and I've got walking to do.

Yep. His bat is gonna be rusty. We need the defense right away. 

[IndyTwinsFan]

Good in and of itself.  However, the two problems I see here are that:

(1) It obviously doesn't do anything to help a bullpen that, except for Jax, has pretty much been a disaster zone most of the season.

(2) It doesn't do much of anything to address a spate of largely unprofessional at-bats we've been seeing for far too long now.

[Blyleven2011]

Buxton showed no rust tonight  , Correa who has been out longer with no rehab might be slow out of the gate ...

Glad to have them back regardless  , hope they spark the team  ...

[IndianaTwin]

1 hour ago, IndyTwinsFan said:

Good in and of itself.  However, the two problems I see here are that:

(1) It obviously doesn't do anything to help a bullpen that, except for Jax, has pretty much been a disaster zone most of the season.

(2) It doesn't do much of anything to address a spate of largely unprofessional at-bats we've been seeing for far too long now.

It does help the bullpen when outs are gotten that they haven’t been getting recently. 

Similarly, it lessens the number of at bats going to people who have been taking the unprofessional at bats. 

[mnfireman]

3 hours ago, IndyTwinsFan said:

(1) It obviously doesn't do anything to help a bullpen that, except for Jax, has pretty much been a disaster zone most of the season.

If a pitcher is confident the guys behind him will make the plays he can trust his stuff and not have to worry about making the perfect pitch, every pitch.

[mikelink45]

I asked the people in Lisbon what they thought of the twins and they looked around and couldn't see any. I guess our twins are not on their mind, but I am certainly glad to see Buxton and Correa back in the lineup. I'm expecting to hear more news as I travel around Europe so keep this happening. Although I do agree the bullpen is another issue and I just hope that somebody can step up there

[Peter]

Just in time!!! Now with corea/buxton back winning starts now and will give twins the spark they need rest of season!!!

[Whitey333]

The saviors of the season have arrived!?!?  I'm so happy that their presence guarantees a trip to the World Series.  I sure hope they solidify the team but their presence will only be noteworthy if they produce and the Twins win in the stretch drive.  Go Twins.

[FLYBOY1979]

And this means base running disasters are over also?

[Karbo]

Glad to have him back, but I'm starting to think it's too little, too late. The only hope I see is if the lineup can get hot. Is Correa the spark? I hope so.

[Craig Arko]

Y’all almost seem hoping for failure. 

[Original_JB]

I'm really curious as to what kind of treatment they switched to. Everything I've read to this point makes me believe they were doing the rest/icing/stay off it/gentle stretching method. Whatever they switched to, to be as painful as it sounds, I'd guess might be real hardcore deep tissue massage that can do a more thorough stretching job of the tissues than basic stretches would. (Hurts so good?) The other, old school way, depending on the position and severity of the injury, was to sort of 'complete the tear' so as to take the tension out of the tissues to provide relief and let it heal. That would certainly bring people to tears, as described.

[Doctor Gast]

The way the Twins look, even with Buck & Correa. IMO, it seems better to miss the playoffs instead of being embarrassed & gaining a better draft pick.

[insagt1]

Hope it's not too late to turn things around. I'm done ,'playing for draft picks'. Always a crap shoot and they usually don't make a difference right away. They need to win now. The WC is in major jeopardy unless they can start winning for real. Might be difficult. Last night's game was ugly...too many of them lately.

[LambchoP]

Kind of surprised Keirsey is the one getting sent down for Correa. I thought they kept him on the team as CF insurance for Buxton. Not to mention solid late game defensive replacement and speedy pinch runner. Probably would have made more sense to send Julien down with our ever growing list of infielders,but we'll see how it plays out. I'd have rather Margot just stayed injured and give his spot to Keirsey. Hopefully having all three of Buxton Lewis and Correa together can spark some life into this lineup. Those three plus Wallner and Miranda all hitting the same day, starts to look like a scary lineup if everyones going right.

[thelanges5]

Back up against the wall, it is time to push in all the chips. Hopefully Correa and Buck can help these guys find another gear. Twins have the third worst record in baseball since mid August.

[S Bart]

The podiatrist gave me a cortisone shot that was injected directly into my heel to treat my planter faciitis. It was VERY painful due to location of the injection but helped with the healing process. 

As of this moment, the Twins cling to the last wild card spot in the playoffs. In the rearview mirror...

Detroit 2 1/2 games back

Seattle 3 1/2 games back

Boston 4 1/2 games back 

Fingers crossed..

 

 

Edited September 14, 2024 by S Bart
correction

[NYCTK]

1 hour ago, Doctor Gast said:

The way the Twins look, even with Buck & Correa. IMO, it seems better to miss the playoffs instead of being embarrassed & gaining a better draft pick.

Gotta start a new streak. 2 going on 4? 

[Parker Hageman]

Official official.

 

[Blyleven2011]

1 hour ago, Doctor Gast said:

The way the Twins look, even with Buck & Correa. IMO, it seems better to miss the playoffs instead of being embarrassed & gaining a better draft pick.

You nailed it doc , the key word is embarrassed  , most likely won't be pretty in the playoffs  ...

[Brock Beauchamp]

The playoff push:

[Richie the Rally Goat]

7 hours ago, mnfireman said:

If a pitcher is confident the guys behind him will make the plays he can trust his stuff and not have to worry about making the perfect pitch, every pitch.

At SS and CF

[Road trip]

5 hours ago, Doctor Gast said:

The way the Twins look, even with Buck & Correa. IMO, it seems better to miss the playoffs instead of being embarrassed & gaining a better draft pick.

Nah, I'll take the playoff spot and roll the dice.  Twins could get hot and advance a ways.  Maybe it's only a 5% chance or less, but that's still worth more than moving up a couple of spots in the draft order.

[Brandon]

15 hours ago, IndyTwinsFan said:

Good in and of itself.  However, the two problems I see here are that:

(1) It obviously doesn't do anything to help a bullpen that, except for Jax, has pretty much been a disaster zone most of the season.

(2) It doesn't do much of anything to address a spate of largely unprofessional at-bats we've been seeing for far too long now.

Blewitt hasn’t blown it and Henriquez is pitching well too. With Varland now in the pen. Tonkin has been ok last man in the pen.  The pen is showing potential and it sounds like Paddack will be back for pen duties in the playoffs.  The pen will be fine.  
 

The offense still concerns me but could improve drastically if Correa and Buxton hit like they were at the time of injury.  That’s all I got and it’s actually a lot.  Also the defense improves too which will help the pen.  

[NYCTK]

20 minutes ago, Brandon said:

Blewitt hasn’t blown it and Henriquez is pitching well too. With Varland now in the pen. Tonkin has been ok last man in the pen.  The pen is showing potential and it sounds like Paddack will be back for pen duties in the playoffs.  The pen will be fine.  
 

The offense still concerns me but could improve drastically if Correa and Buxton hit like they were at the time of injury.  That’s all I got and it’s actually a lot.  Also the defense improves too which will help the pen.  

Blewett Henriquez and Tonkin are all DFA candidates on any team at any given time. The fact we have 3 of those types right now, when our bullpen should be shaping up, is frankly pathetic. 

[Brandon]

1 hour ago, NYCTK said:

Blewett Henriquez and Tonkin are all DFA candidates on any team at any given time. The fact we have 3 of those types right now, when our bullpen should be shaping up, is frankly pathetic. 

DFA ??? really?  I mean you can make a case for Tonkin.  All I am saying about Tonkin is that he is an ok 8th man out of the pen.

Blewett isn't blowing it.  He has 11..67 innings with 11 to 3 K to BB ratio and not giving up runs either.  He could be on a streak through the playoffs.  Is he a DFA candidate who knows maybe.  but he is on a tear right now.

Henriquez,  He is the most stable of all at this point with 27.67 career innings with the Twins with an ERA of 2.60.  His FIP is around 4.01 so with that he is still serviceable.  

This is the performance for the back of the bullpen.  the 7,8 and 9th man in the pen since its expanded in September.  for the playoffs we can bring one or two of these pitchers with the team to be the bottom end of the pen to pitch in likely losses to keep the score down in case we are able to come back.  

so I don't understand how this is pathetic.  can you explain with facts and data?

[NYCTK]

47 minutes ago, Brandon said:

DFA ??? really?  I mean you can make a case for Tonkin.  All I am saying about Tonkin is that he is an ok 8th man out of the pen.

Blewett isn't blowing it.  He has 11..67 innings with 11 to 3 K to BB ratio and not giving up runs either.  He could be on a streak through the playoffs.  Is he a DFA candidate who knows maybe.  but he is on a tear right now.

Henriquez,  He is the most stable of all at this point with 27.67 career innings with the Twins with an ERA of 2.60.  His FIP is around 4.01 so with that he is still serviceable.  

This is the performance for the back of the bullpen.  the 7,8 and 9th man in the pen since its expanded in September.  for the playoffs we can bring one or two of these pitchers with the team to be the bottom end of the pen to pitch in likely losses to keep the score down in case we are able to come back.  

so I don't understand how this is pathetic.  can you explain with facts and data?

Wow. You'll grant me that the guy that's been DFAd by three teams this season, including the Twins, might be a DFA candidate on any other team. Thanks. 

I'll also allow that Henriquez is not a DFA candidate. That was hyperbole to speak to his ability and results, which aren't good. ignoring his contract situation. He's the perfect option RP. Think he's still got options so he can start next season in AAA again and get a call up when stretched thin. But anyone expecting anything more than a 7th or 8th arm from him is asking too much. 

As for Blewett, he's got 217 innings in AAA with a 1.73 WHIP. He's not good. All the best of luck to him, but he's simply not good. 

It's not the fact that any one of them is on the team that's bad. Every team has DFA candidates in their bullpen at any given time. It's that all 3 of them are on the team in the most important stretch of games that speaks so poorly of our front office.