It was a major surprise when the Minnesota Twins signed Carlos Correa in the middle of the night in March 2022.
Correa was a superstar who grabbed fans’ attention even in the poorly marketed landscape of Major League Baseball. He was a face of the Houston Astros teams that dominated the late 2000s and a crucial player on their 2017 World Series Championship team.
Players like this rarely end up in a Twins uniform, especially in free agency. It felt like they got their guy to lead them into a new era. Two years (and a wild free agency tour) later, fans haven’t seen that player as much as they expected. However, after an offseason of rehab and a new approach, Correa looks like the player he was in Houston, which is good because they might need him more than ever.
The Twins have gotten off to a slow start, limping to a 3-5 record over the first eight games. But Correa has been one of the positives. His defense has been outstanding, he’s getting hits with runners in scoring position, and a plantar fasciitis injury that hampered his 2023 season appears to be behind him.
It’s hard to fully celebrate Correa’s renaissance with the team’s struggles on the field. Still, it’s a different feel than he had over his first two years in Minnesota.
It began with the 2022 season, where Correa felt more like a mercenary than a franchise cornerstone. With a three-year contract filled with opt-outs over the first two seasons, Correa’s mission was to rehab his value and cash in on a big deal in free agency. But that objective became more difficult when Correa hit .167/.254/.250 with 22 strikeouts in his first 67 plate appearances.
On June 12, Correa was hitting .303/.372/.465 with five homers and 19 RBI. However, he fell into another slump before turning on over the season’s final two months.
From Aug. 13 through the end of the year, Correa hit .340/.414/.543 with nine homers and 27 RBI. However, injuries had knocked the Twins out of contention. When Correa returned after two mega-deals fell through in free agency, fans were optimistic about what he could do as a long-term player.
Then, plantar fasciitis disrupted those plans.
Correa wasn’t himself, hitting only .230/.312/299 with 18 homers and 65 RBI. While he could still play 135 games, Correa’s ancillary numbers dropped at the plate with a higher whiff and strikeout rate. His defensive game also suffered, posting a negative defensive runs saved rating (-2) for the first time in his career.
There were flashes of the superstar Correa was with the Astros, such as a walk-off home run against the Milwaukee Brewers last June and a tremendous postseason performance that included a laser to throw out Bo Bichette at the plate in Game 1 of the American League Wild Card Series against the Toronto Blue Jays. But it wasn’t happening consistently.
That left Correa with a lot of work to do in the offseason. Aside from rehabbing the injury that hampered him throughout last season, he dropped his hands in his batting stance to generate more power, and his sprint speed jumped from the 33rd percentile last season to the 62nd percentile entering Tuesday’s game against the Los Angeles Dodgers.
“It’s different [from last year],” Correa told Dan Hayes of The Athletic over the weekend. “You’ve seen me running. I felt like last year I couldn’t run at all. It just feels good that I can play on two legs again.”
Correa also looks more confident at the plate with his approach. He’s 8-for-26 (.308) with a pair of doubles, and his walk rate has nearly doubled from 10.2 percent last year to 23.5 percent this season. It’s a small sample, but it could be the foundation for Correa’s best season in a Twins uniform.
The timing couldn’t be better, considering the current shape the Twins are in. Minnesota has struggled offensively and one of the biggest areas is with runners in scoring position. Only the Chicago White Sox have a lower batting average (.091) than Minnesota’s .122 average with RISP entering Tuesday. The numbers are even worse with two outs, hitting .118 with nine strikeouts in 34 at-bats.
Royce Lewis‘s injury has been one of the biggest culprits. Last season, he hit .385/.452/.785 with eight homers and 43 RBI in 65 at-bats with runners in scoring position, four of which were grand slams. Therefore, the Twins are without a major piece of their lineup as Lewis rehabs from a major quad strain.
But while the Twins feel Lewis’ absence in the lineup, it also hurts the team’s vibes. Lewis’s charisma is off the charts, and his injury leaves the Twins needing someone to rally behind. Lewis’ return from a torn ACL on Memorial Day last season ignited Minnesota’s charge toward the playoffs last year, and the Twins need someone to have a similar impact this season.
Byron Buxton could be that player, but his injury history prevents fans from becoming too invested. Matt Wallner and Edouard Julien have struggled after their strong rookie seasons, and the rest of the lineup has more complementary pieces.
That turns the attention to Correa, who has been in this role before. If Correa can be the superstar Twins fans have been waiting for, it may be enough to stay afloat and become an American League contender when Lewis returns from injury. It could be wishful thinking, but Correa’s play worked for the Astros and could very well work for the Twins this season.
