Carlos Correa’s offensive turnaround is a good sign for Twins offense

The Twins received a boost to their lineup with Byron Buxton returning Friday, and Matt Wallner on the verge of rejoining the team, but maybe one of the best signs for the offense came against Tampa Bay earlier this week.

In the seventh inning Monday, Carlos Correa jacked a 417-foot homer on a sinker that caught the middle of the plate from Rays lefty Garrett Cleavinger. Correa dropped his bat and his head immediately, one of those perfect swings that every player chases.

Correa followed with three hits in the next game, smacking a hanging slider into the left-field corner for a double, and he bashed another single Wednesday with a 107-mph exit velocity.

“When your superstars are playing really good, it kind of pulls the whole team along, for sure,” catcher Ryan Jeffers said.

During the three-game series in Tampa, Correa was at his peak defensively, too. He handled sharp ground balls with ease. He showed off his arm against fast runners, and he threw out a runner at the plate on an attempted double steal in Tuesday’s 4-2 win.

Twins manager Rocco Baldelli was in awe of Correa’s smart play Monday, fielding a ground ball to his left and throwing behind a runner at third base for an inning-ending out.

Correa called it his favorite type of defensive play because “it takes more than physicality and talent. It takes IQ. It takes anticipation. It takes experience and knowing the game. I like those a lot better. Diving plays, everybody makes those. It’s just reaction and athleticism.”

“When he really starts to get going at the plate like this, I think you get even a little extra something from him,” Baldelli said. “The way he walks around, the way he plays the game, the confidence factor is high — and it should be. He’s playing great on both sides of the ball.”

Correa, who had a dismal April in the batter’s box, was batting .328 over his last 17 games before he went on the injured list, albeit with little power. There is always uncertainty about how players will recover from a brain injury, but Correa said he put in some work on his swing during his last two days on the IL.

Since returning last week, Correa has seven hits in 20 at-bats (.350 batting average) with two homers, one double, three RBI, a walk and three strikeouts.

He homered in his first game back, a 429-foot shot off Kansas City’s Noah Cameron at Target Field last week. Correa called it his best swing of the year. Cameron, a rookie lefthander, has permitted only three extra-base hits in 25 innings.

“When he comes up, it doesn’t matter what he’s hitting, if he’s struggling or not,” Jeffers said. “You’re always going to tune in and be like he’s going to do something good. He’s starting to find his groove. I don’t think any of us really worried about him. He was going to find it.”

Teammates and coaches around him, though, see the confidence returning to his swing.

“It fires guys up whenever one of your guys is going really good,” Baldelli said. “It increases your energy and you get pumped up.