The season is only 11 games old and the Minnesota Twins will likely be without their three superstars.
Carlos Correa exited Friday night's game in Detroit early with a right oblique strain, leaving his immediate status in doubt. Correa appeared to hold his right side during a groundout in the third inning and Willie Castro took over for him at shortstop in the bottom of the inning.
The Twins are already without star closer John Doran, who has been out since mid-March with a grade 2 oblique strain, and emerging star Royce Lewis, who suffered a severe right quad injury on Opening Day.
Although Duran is on the mend, throwing a bullpen in Detroit on Friday with another scheduled for Tuesday, losing Correa would be a huge blow to a Twins team that has struggled to score early in the season.
With Byron Buxton, Lewis and Correa healthy, the Twins entered the season with high expectations. Through the first 10 games, the Twins had scored just 29 runs and Miss Lewis, who homered in his first hit of the season and singled in his second, exited the March 28 contest after hurting himself running the bases on Correa's RBI double to left field.
Correa got off to a strong start, hitting .308/.432/.444 with one home run and four RBIs in 44 games. He has looked noticeably better this season health-wise after playing with plantar fasciitis in his left heel for much of the 2023 season. Correa struggled at the plate all season after suffering a foot injury in mid-May but declined to go on the injured list until the team clinched the league US central bank in late September.
Lewis, who has been sidelined since Opening Day, said Wednesday that it will take six weeks for his quadriceps to heal properly.
The Twins are also awaiting the return of their No. 2 prospect, Brooks Lee, who started the season on the IL in Triple-A St. Louis. Paul suffered a back strain. If he was healthy, Lee, who The athlete Keith Law was ranked as the No. 31 prospect in baseball, and would likely have been promoted when Lewis went down. Instead, the Twins promoted prospect Austin Martin.
(Photo by Carlos Correa: Matt Krohn/Getty Images)