MN Twins Reveal Latest on Carlos Correa, Byron Buxton and Harrison Bader

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Carlos Correa, Byron Buxton - Minnesota Twins
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The Minnesota Twins earned their 12th win in a row on Friday, in Milwaukee, against the National League Brewers. Unfortunately, they were forced to do so without three of their best veterans, Byron Buxton, Carlos Correa and Harrison Bader.

Correa and Buxton sat out after the two collided with each other in shallow center field on Thursday night, in the closing game of the Twins’ most recent series in Baltimore. Meanwhile, Baderi is feeling better this weekend, after missing the last two games due to groin tightness.

Harrison Bader has been arguably the Minnesota Twins best player so far this season, already earning 1.7 bWAR in just 39 games, thanks to one of the best stretches of his baseball career, in which Bader is hitting .300 BA with an .848 OPS, 136 OPS+, 18 RBI and 12 extra base hits.

Byron Buxton avoids MN Twins concussion list… for now

As good as Harrison Bader has been, Byron Buxton (1.8 bWAR) has been right there with him, batting .261 with an .834 OPS (129 OPS+), 27 RBI and 10 home runs. On Friday, during the Twins’ win over the Brewers, Audra Martin (Twins.TV) reported some (possible) good news on him too.

Buck has avoided the concussion list, at least for now. According to what a Minnesota Twins official told Dan Hayes (The Athletic), Byron remains in concussion protocol and “needs to clear hurdles” before he’s deemed concussion free.

According to a Twins official: “(Buxton) currently is still being evaluated daily. Until he is in the lineup or not on the IL, he needs to clear hurdles in the protocol.”

The Athletic

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Hopefully, we hear more news before Saturday’s game. This team needs its dynamic duo of Byron Buxton and Harrison Bader back roaming the outfield sooner than later.

MN Twins needs Harrison Bader and Byron Buxton back ASAP

Because when they’re both in the lineup, not only have they been incredible at the plate, but the two of them playing next to each other nearly eliminates an entire side of the outfield for opposing hitters, unless they really earn it.

The beginning of Carlos Correa’s 2025 story has not gotten off to the same fairy tale start as Buxton and Bader. He’s hitting just .236 with a .605 OPS (69 OPS+), good for one of the slower starts in his career, and Correa is not known as a fast starter.

Still, you cannot underestimate the leadership and intangibles the World Series champion and 3X All-Star brings to the Minnesota Twins dugout and clubhouse. Plus, he was hitting better recently. And if there is one player on this roster who you know will eventually turn things around, it’s him.

Carlos Correa lands on concussion list

Unfortunately, it will be at least a week before we see Carlos Correa try to continue that turnaround. On Friday evening, Correa was placed on the 7-day concussion list.

Ryan Fitzgerald — who was called up to replace Correa — is a 30-year-old career minor leaguer who’s come out of his shell this season, where the former undrafted Creighton Bluejay is hitting .328 with a .953 OPS in 35 games for the Saints. We’ll see how he holds up vs MLB hitting, but one thing is for sure. He immediately jumps to the top of the ‘Best Hair in Major League Baseball’ list.

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Let’s just hope he is on his way back down to St. Paul in a week, and that Correa’s head is ok. We know all too well in this town how quickly concussions can become a problem in baseball.

Both Justin Morneau and Joe Mauer saw their baseball careers significantly altered late, due to head injuries. Let’s hope the next week end up being a forgettable blip on what now looks like a successful Minnesota Twins season.

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