FORT MYERS, Fla. — Carlos Correa had a complaint for Byron Buxton after the Twins' 8-7 victory over the Braves on Friday at Hammond Stadium. "I don't like hitting behind you," Correa said with a huge smile, "because I don't get many chances to drive you in."
Not when Buxton is hitting this way, he won't. Rocco Baldelli batted his two biggest stars in the first two spots in the batting order, and Buxton responded by smashing a pair of home runs and a single in three at-bats, helping the Twins win their fourth straight home game of the spring.
Of course, Correa was hardly bereft against Atlanta lefthander Max Fried, the Braves' Opening Day starter. The shortstop followed Buxton's first-inning home run with a double to deep center, and he followed Buxton's fourth-inning smash onto the grass berm in left field with one of his own. Buxton now has four home runs in Grapefruit League play, Correa has two, and the Twins — who also received a long two-run homer from catcher Ryan Jeffers — have a truckload of optimism about their batting order heading into the 2022 season.
A 5-for-6 day from your top two hitters will do that.
"We've been hitting Buck at the very top of the lineup for the entire spring. It looks like Carlos can hit anywhere in the 2-3-4 spots, depending on everyone else that's playing. [Batting them 1-2] is something we could see," Baldelli said. "We have a lot of lefthanders that we're going to see pretty early in the season. There's a very real chance we see them 1 and 2 at times this year. We got a little taste of it today, and it was good."
The only bad part was a brief health scare: Buxton fouled a pitch off his shin in the second inning, before singling. But when Baldelli and athletic trainer Michael Salazar hurried out to check on them, Buxton greeted them with a one-liner that reflected his positive feelings about this spring.
"They said, 'We should probably just give you another minute,' " Buxton said. "I said, 'Nah, you should probably just get me some bubble wrap.' "
