Twins' Carlos Correa receives new injury update

The Minnesota Twins have been without All-Star shortstop Carlos Correa since July 12 as he recovers from plantar fasciitis in his right foot. Although an exact return date has not yet been announced, Correa could be getting closer to a return to the Twins based on recent information on his rehab process.

Correa ran at full speed for the first time in a week on Thursday and participated in other baseball activities such as hitting and catching ground balls, Twins head coach Nick Paparesta told Phil Miller of the Minneapolis Star Tribune on Friday after the Twins' 4-3 victory over the Texas Rangers.

“We need to make sure he's comfortable running every day and not in pain the next day,” Paparesta said. “When you deal with these plantar fasciitis injuries, you realize these things can drag on. Once you see him running a lot, you know we're in a pretty good spot.”

Although Correa is making progress, he's not at the point where he could consider coming off the injured list or participating in minor league rehab training. As Paparesta says, Correa needs to be able to constantly push himself and do things like running at full speed and other high-intensity activities more often without feeling any pain.

What the Twins are missing since Carlos Correa is out

Before going on the injured list in July, Correa was at his best and had one of the best seasons of his career, hitting .308/.377/.520, playing Gold Glove-worthy defense at shortstop and helping the Twins to a possible postseason berth.

After Friday's win, the Twins currently sit at 69-53 and are in the American League's second wild card spot, two games ahead of the Kansas City Royals and 2 1/2 games behind the Baltimore Orioles. They are also still in the race for the AL Central, just three games behind the Cleveland Guardians.

Although the Twins have managed to get enough production at shortstop in Correa's absence to keep up with Willi Castro and Kyle Farmer in the AL, that's not a sustainable solution for a team with postseason aspirations. Not only is Correa one of the best two-way players in all of baseball when healthy, but he also has more postseason experience than anyone else on the Twins from his time with the Houston Astros. A healthy Correa is key for the Twins.