Advertisement

Twins shortstop Carlos Correa heats up in September

Betsy Helfand, Pioneer Press
·3 min read

Last September may have been one that was memorable for almost all of the wrong reasons for the Twins, but as the team’s playoff hopes sunk around him, shortstop Carlos Correa was at his best, trying to help keep the team afloat.

Correa’s big September — his seven home runs and 44 hits were part of a month in which he hit .355 with a 1.001 OPS — wasn’t enough to save a roster depleted by injury, but it was part of a historic trend for the shortstop. Throughout his career, September has been a big month for Correa, and it seems as if a familiar story is playing out for the shortstop, who has turned it on in recent days despite underperforming his career norms for much of this season.

“It really feels like he kicks it into another gear when it gets towards this month and October,” hitting coach David Popkins said.

Sure, the sample size is small, but in eight games in September, Correa is hitting .355/.429/.581 with a pair of home runs and 11 hits in eight games. One of those home runs came on Friday against the Mets, and at 114.2 mph, it was the hardest of his career.

After pacing himself throughout the regular season, Correa said he views September as a month where he can “let it all out.”

“The finish line, you can see it out there. When you’re in the middle of May, the middle of June, you can’t overdo your swings because you’re going to end up getting hurt, there’s still too much season to play,” Correa said. “In September, you can kind of see the finish line right there so you can get to work and do more early work and all that stuff depending on how your body feels.”

Correa has avoided the injured list all season and said his body has been feeling really good as the Twins play in the final month of the regular season, save for the plantar fasciitis in his left foot that has plagued him since May.

Earlier in the week, Correa alluded to adjustments made last weekend in Texas, which Popkins said was setting his hands farther from his head to start, giving him more tension in his abdominals.

“It’s been working and getting to where I want to be and hopefully that feeling will stay there and I can ride it going to the stretch of the season now hopefully to the playoffs,” Correa said.

Briefly

Pablo López (10-7, 3.64 ERA) will get the ball in the series finale against the Mets opposed by Tylor Megill (8-7, 5.28 ERA), the brother of former Twins reliever Trevor Megill. … Jorge Alcala began a rehab assignment with the Fort Myers Mighty Mussels on Saturday. Alcala has been on the injured list since May 16 with a right forearm extensor strain. … Newly-converted reliever Louie Varland topped 100 mph on the radar gun, throwing a pitch to Daniel Vogelbach at 100.4 mph.

Related Articles