Carlos Correa shines in return from concussion, leads Twins to 15th win in 17 games

New York Times

24-05-2025

MINNEAPOLIS — Carlos Correa returned to the Minnesota Twins' lineup Friday, the first day the All-Star shortstop was eligible to be activated from the concussion injured list following a May 15 collision with Byron Buxton.
Correa wasted no time making his presence felt in a 3-1 walk-off win versus the Kansas City Royals — first with his bat, later with his glove and arm on a key double play, and finally with his legs.
Carlos Correa homers in his first at-bat back in the @Twins lineup – and on his bobblehead night! pic.twitter.com/BosV1Nj70A
— MLB (@MLB) May 24, 2025
He smacked a 429-foot solo homer into the bullpen in left-center field on the second pitch he saw from Kansas City starter Noah Cameron and narrowly missed a second homer in his second at-bat, flying out to the warning track in right-center field.
Correa's solo shot was the lineup's lone run through eight innings, but the Twins got another excellent pitching performance in a season full of them, as starter Pablo López and four relievers limited the Royals to one run in nine frames to set the stage for a dramatic bottom of the ninth.
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With one out, Correa reached on an infield single to third base, sprinting hard out of the box. And then he got to jog the rest of the way as the game-winning run on Ty France's walk-off homer, the first of the 30-year-old first baseman's career.
After a 13-20 start, the Twins have won 15 of their last 17 games to move to 28-22.
'I think it was the perfect way to get back,' Correa said. 'Do a little bit of everything, get my feet wet and go from there. … It was a great win for us.'
Ty France gives the @Twins ANOTHER #walkoff win! pic.twitter.com/zgVo0qGaWG
— MLB (@MLB) May 24, 2025
And in typical hypercompetitive Correa fashion, he noted that off days on the schedule and a rainout enabled him to miss only five games during the league-mandated seven-day absence.
'The first couple of days, it was definitely weird because this was the first (concussion) I've ever had,' Correa said. 'Dizziness, headaches, foggy. My thoughts were slow. … But then I started feeling better the fourth and fifth day, and here we are.'
Correa had a career-worst March/April, hitting just .215/.261/.318 with one homer in 30 games amid questions about a left wrist injury that started to bother him last season. But he now has two homers in 12 games since May 1, hitting .311/.326/.444 to raise his OPS from .579 to .635.
'I feel great,' Correa said. 'It's just good to be back.'
Despite a slow start offensively, Correa has been as sure-handed as ever in the field, ranking third among shortstops with six outs above average. His return to shortstop means the Twins can go with their preferred infield alignment of Brooks Lee at second base and Royce Lewis at third.
'Everyone is excited to have him back,' manager Rocco Baldelli said. 'Both sides of the ball, we're going to get better. We'll treat it day by day. There's a chance, one of the next couple games, he's not out there. We'll play him and then assess him to make sure everything is still going smoothly.'
C4 TURNS 2! 🔥 pic.twitter.com/kZOBAMfHCO
— Twins.TV (@twinstv) May 24, 2025
Buxton was also eligible to return Friday, but the center fielder remains on the IL, with Twins head athletic trainer Nick Paparesta saying Wednesday that Buxton was 'a little bit behind' Correa's recovery progression because of a history of migraine headaches and multiple concussions.
Buxton has been ramping up baseball activities and completed what a team official called 'ground-based running' — as opposed to running in a pool or on a treadmill — prior to Friday's game. There's no timetable for his return, but all indications are Buxton is heading in a positive direction.
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Matt Wallner also looks close to returning to the Twins' lineup after going 5-for-9 with two homers in his first two rehab games at Triple-A St. Paul. Out since mid-April with a moderate left hamstring strain, Wallner was off to a strong MLB start before the injury, hitting .263/.373/.474 in 18 games.
Regardless of how ready Wallner's bat may look, after six weeks on the sidelines with a soft-tissue injury, the Twins will likely want him to fully test his hamstring by playing back-to-back full games in the outfield before a potential activation on the upcoming 10-game road trip.
He looks healthy to us lol pic.twitter.com/7DWAUhgkMN
— St. Paul Saints (@StPaulSaints) May 23, 2025
Because of Lewis' spring training hamstring strain and the injuries to Wallner, Correa, Buxton and Willi Castro that followed, the Twins haven't put their planned Opening Day lineup on the field this season. That's forced them to turn to journeymen and rookies to fill bigger roles than expected.
One silver lining to that is the emergence of Kody Clemens, the 29-year-old son of a legend who has hit .318/.388/.683 with three homers over 17 games after being dropped by the Philadelphia Phillies and acquired by the Twins for cash considerations because they needed emergency infield depth.
Despite a jolt from Clemens, the lineup has struggled overall, ranking 21st in OPS and runs scored out of 30 teams. But with Lewis, Castro and Correa back, and Buxton and Wallner hopefully joining them soon, the Twins may finally have their full complement of hitters for the first time this season.
'When all of those guys get healthy,' Baldelli said, 'then it allows us to play a really good lineup every day, with a lot of our regular guys, and also have a guy off each day. It'll keep everyone going. As long as you can do that, it's great. It doesn't normally last too long, but when you can do it, you do it.'
(Photo of Carlos Correa jumping over Jonathan India: Brad Rempel / Imagn Images)