SAN FRANCISCO — The Minnesota Twins revealed on Sunday that All-Star shortstop Carlos Correa has plantar fasciitis in his right foot.
Although he’s optimistic, Carlos Correa thinks it’s imperative to better manage his current bout with plantar fasciitis than he did a year ago.
Correa, who underwent an MRI Saturday night, played the bulk of the 2023 season with plantar fasciitis in his left foot. He finally agreed to go on the injured list only after the Twins clinched the American League Central title in late September. The decision to sacrifice himself to stay on the field for his team cost Correa offensively as he produced some of the worst hitting numbers of his career.
With the All-Star break beginning Monday, Correa thinks he can use the window to recover and be ready for the second half, which begins on Saturday. Though Correa wouldn’t rule out playing in Tuesday’s All-Star Game in Arlington, Texas, he also acknowledged he needs to rest now while he has the chance.
“I don’t just want to be a body on the field,” Correa said. “I want to be able to perform to the best of my abilities like I’ve done this first half. Last year, one thing I learned is people don’t care if you go out there and play hurt. They’re always going to talk about your performance and that only. I’m just going to make sure that when I’m on the field, I’m not just somebody that’s just standing there. I’m going to be Carlos Correa.”
“It doesn’t look as severe as it did last year.”
Rocco Baldelli with an update on Carlos Correa’s plantar fasciitis. #MNTwins pic.twitter.com/jXm0nSxKuk
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There’s little doubt about how much plantar fasciitis impacted Correa’s bat last season.
There’s a noticeable difference to the naked eye this season when it comes to how Correa has been able to stay grounded in his swing and how much freer and easier he moves compared with a period when he led the league in double plays and claimed to be “slow as f—.” His production is equally eye-opening as Correa is batting .308/.377/.520 with 13 home runs and 47 RBIs only a season after finishing with a .711 OPS and a 94 OPS+, the second-lowest total of his career.
The 29-year-old said his right heel began to bother him during Friday’s series opener against the San Francisco Giants, the team he very nearly signed with in December 2022 and against whom he suffered his plantar fasciitis injury a year ago in mid-May.
Unlike that injury, Correa said the pain he’s experiencing now isn’t at the same level. Still, with the break here, Correa knew to speak up to the team’s training staff and sit out the team’s final two pre-All-Star Game contests. He underwent an MRI on Saturday at 6 p.m. and team doctors reviewed the results later that night.
“I knew it wasn’t as bad as last year,” Correa said. “Last year I played through a lot of pain. The first game I played here was discomfort. But the break is right here so there’s no need to push it, especially with the team we have. … When you have a team like we have, it feels a lot better taking these two days and getting ready for the next games in the second half.”
Thus far, there’s been no talk of placing Correa on the injured list. Correa wouldn’t even rule out playing in Texas on Tuesday, though he hadn’t yet talked to Twins manager Rocco Baldelli about the prospect. While Baldelli noted players who sit out games ahead of the All-Star exhibition normally sit it out, he wouldn’t make a determination without speaking to Correa.
Baldelli also described the heel contusion as less severe.
“He’s a very informed and aware player when it comes to his body, and he’ll know what he needs to do to get by,” Baldelli said. “Last year he played through something that was noticeably more severe, and he played through it basically the entire season.”
Correa is very excited about where the Twins stand as they head into the break. The team entered its final game on Sunday 13 games above .500 and featuring a dangerous — yet currently dinged up — offense.
Even after dealing with plantar fasciitis last season, Correa isn’t concerned it’s going to linger the way it did in 2023.
“We’re taking the precautions that we need to take right now before it gets worse,” Correa said. “We kind of know how to manage it, all the info we have from last year. I think I’ll be ready for the second half.”
Required reading
• Twins’ Carlos Correa is content, looking ahead in return to San Francisco after failed megadeal
• Picking the Minnesota Twins’ first-half MVP: Correa, Willi Castro and two healthy feet
(Photo: Kamil Krzaczynski / USA Today)
