BALTIMORE — If it wasn’t enough to lose their manager, one of their best hitters and a starting pitcher to COVID-19, the Twins lost their star shortstop on Thursday, too.
Oh, and a ballgame on top of all that, too.
The Orioles powered their way past the Twins 5-3 at Oriole Park at Camden Yards on the strength of five solo home runs, including two in the eighth inning off rookie Jhoan Duran. But bigger than a May loss to the last-place Orioles is the health of Carlos Correa, who was hit on the right hand — the play resulted in a check-swing groundout — in the seventh inning.
Preliminary imaging revealed the potential for a non-displaced fracture in Correa’s right middle finger, the Twins said. While a broken finger will sideline the shortstop for a yet to be determined amount of time, a non-displaced fracture means that Correa likely will not need surgery.
Correa will have a CT scan done Friday when the Twins return home to confirm the diagnosis.
“He was back down there and running some tests and trying to squeeze the hand and he was in a lot of pain,” acting manager Jayce Tingler said.
Correa’s injury came after the Twins lost manager Rocco Baldelli, infielder Luis Arraez and starting pitcher Dylan Bundy to COVID-19 earlier in the day and before the Twins saw their chances at a series win slip away later in the night.
The injury comes as Correa had just started to heat up after a slow start at the plate. Thursday marked the end of Correa’s seven-game hitting streak. In his previous seven games, he was hitting .452 with a 1.114 OPS, pairing that with Gold Glove-caliber defense.
“He’s one of the best players in the game. He’s gone out there and played really well for us,” Baldelli said Wednesday. “He’s getting pretty hot with the bat right now, but his play at shortstop has been exceptional. And it just stands out. You’re watching innings just get shortened because of the way that he takes all aspects of his job seriously, but he’s there for his teammates and finding ways to get better as a unit is his goal when he walks in the door every day.”
While it will be impossible to replace Correa, the injury does potentially open the door for top prospect Royce Lewis, who is off to a hot start at Triple-A St. Paul this season. Lewis, like Correa, was also the No. 1 overall pick in a draft, the 22-year-old selected first overall by the Twins in 2017.
Lewis, who missed all of last season after tearing his anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee, is hitting .310 with a .993 OPS in 24 games for St. Paul this season. Lewis is the only other true shortstop on the 40-man roster.
Second baseman Jorge Polanco also has extensive experience at shortstop, though the Twins prefer him on the right side of the infield. Nick Gordon also has some experience there, and so does third baseman Gio Urshela, but none of those three are long-term answers at the position in Correa’s absence.
The loss was just the cherry on top of the Twins’ bad day. Twins pitchers were bitten by the longball in the loss to the Orioles (10-16). The five solo home runs — two off of starter Chris Archer, one off Caleb Thielbar and back-to-back blasts off Duran — comprised all of Baltimore’s offense.
On Thursday, that was enough to sink the Twins (15-11), who scored one run in the third inning on a Byron Buxton RBI groundout and two more in the fifth on Buxton’s team-leading eighth home run of the season.
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May 06, 2022 at 09:36AM
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Twins lose Carlos Correa to injury, fall to Orioles - St. Paul Pioneer Press
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