Carlos Correa Forced to Turn His Back on Nike

The first half of this season, Carlos Correa was nothing short of incredible for the Minnesota Twins. Unfortunately, he went on the injured list just before the All-Star break, with plantar fasciitis in his right foot, and only returned over the weekend. At one point, Correa’s Nike cleats were suggested to be part of the problem. And now, it appears that was correct.

Minnesota Twins shortstop Carlos Correa goes with New Balance

But Correa is a Nike athlete, and therefore contractually obligated to wear their shoes. Nonetheless, he’s decided to turn his back on the company, in search of a shoe that feels better on his right-foot. Most of the season, the near 30-year-old superstar has been wearing Air Jordan Retro 1’s. But now, he’s decided on New Balance FuelCell Ohtani 1.

Carlos Correa is wearing New Balance cleats for the #MNTwins. They are the Ohtani FuelCell model.

Part of his plantar fasciitis problem was shoe related. He has a Nike contract. pic.twitter.com/xLIiFJkylZ

— Ted (@tlschwerz) September 16, 2024

Carlos Correa will be wearing City Connect-themed Jordan cleats for the Twins' on-field uniform debut tonight 😮‍💨

(via @Twins) pic.twitter.com/cmmxihKYfa

— MLB (@MLB) June 14, 2024

It’s weird that a huge shoe company, like Nike seemingly couldn’t find any answers to the superstar’s injury concerns. Rather than provide Carlos Correa with a specially made shoe that was more comfortable on his bad foot, he had to switch to a competitor’s product.

Related: Byron Buxton, Carlos Correa are Nowhere Near 100%

Nike has generated problems in baseball more than once, this year. Their new uniforms caused significant blowback at the beginning of the season. Hopefully, Correa’s plantar fasciitis will be a thing of the past, in 2025.

Most medical experts say a plantar issue shouldn’t be long term, and should go away in the offseason. Then again, that’s what we said about his left foot, last year. What happened next? It showed up in his other foot.