Back in Jim Rice's day, pretty much most batters shortened up on the two-strike swing. I would thing that ran Rice into some double plays that he would not have otherwise hit into if he had been swinging like batters swing today.
As far as Correa, there was a very strong case to not bid on him at all. If Correa had gone to the Mets for 6/150 or whatever it was, we would all be talking about how smart the Twins were to stay away from him. But he is our guy now, and we will need him in the playoff series.
I would like to know if his plantar fasciitis is related to his reconstructed ankle. We can hope he really rests and treats that over the offseason so that it does not turn into a chronic thing year after year. If he had gone on the DL earlier this season, he might be feeling better by now, who knows (and would be nowhere near the GIDP number you mentioned). What you are describing with his speed is a curve trending downwards and he is getting slower over time. There is no reason to think he will get faster one of these years, especially if his plantar fasciitis lingers. I've heard this a lot on this site, and I agree, I would move him down the batting order heading into 2024, maybe 6th.