Carlos Correa moving ‘on the right track’ but not expected to rejoin Twins this month

Carlos Correa is not expected to rejoin the Twins this month as he battles plantar fasciitis in his right foot and still is working toward running at full speed, but he says there is no concern the injury could cost him the rest of the season.

“No, no, no — not at all. I think at some point with the work that we’ve been doing lately, I will get back in there,” Correa said Saturday. “It’s just a matter of when.”

The pain in Correa’s foot has lingered longer than Correa or the organization expected when he landed on the injured list in July. The initial plan was for him to return shortly after the All-Star break, but he had a “minor setback” a couple of weeks ago while running in cleats.

He hasn’t resumed running in cleats — he’s explored modifications to them — and he has yet to attempt running the bases. He sprinted at 80% intensity for 30 yards in regular shoes before Friday’s game.

“We’re trending the right way to where we want to get,” said Correa, who is hitting and throwing daily. “This is something that as much as I want to rush it like we did earlier, it set me back a little bit. We want to be careful with how we move forward but [Friday] was a very encouraging day because it was the first time that I’ve been able to run that fast. I feel like we’re on the right track.”

Correa played most of the 2023 season with plantar fasciitis in his other foot, but he said this isn’t a comparable situation.

“Last year with the pain that I had, I could manage,” said Correa, who underwent a platelet-rich plasma injection during the All-Star break. “The time that I’ve been down after the procedure we did in the break, I’m not able to play. Like it’s just impossible for me to just go out there and give 20, 30%. It’s not going to happen the way I was feeling.”

Notably, it’s an injury that involves his right leg. His right ankle was surgically repaired in 2014 when a metal plate was inserted for a broken right tibia, and medical reviews of his right leg nixed $300 million free agent deals with the San Francisco Giants and New York Mets.

Correa had a stint on the IL last year, right before the postseason, after he had a full tear in the middle part of the plantar fascia. The full tear helped alleviate discomfort in the bottom of his left foot, but he is trying to avoid that this year.

“The thing is that the left foot last year, there was no problem if there was a full tear,” he said. “With the right foot, we’ve got to be a little more careful with the history with that foot. Tearing the fascia I don’t think would be a great option. We’ve got to be careful.”

Lefthander Steven Okert, who yielded a 5.09 ERA in 44 appearances, was designated for assignment following Friday’s game.

It was an emotional exit for a popular member of the bullpen. Okert returned from the bereavement list last week, too.

“It was tough,” Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said. “I mean, he has a lot of fans here. People that really care about him. He’s a great teammate.”

Righthander Scott Blewett was called up to join the Twins bullpen. The Twins, for now, are keeping Louie Varland as a starting pitcher to maintain depth, though he was electric in a stint as a reliever last September.

“We can’t put ourselves ever in a spot where we run out of capable starters,” Baldelli said. “That is always going to be the first thing that I have to bring up when we talk about Lou and his ultimate landing spot in September as far as how he’s getting his innings. I don’t know the answer. I think you could see it play out in both ways.”

• Catcher Ryan Jeffers underwent an X-ray after Friday’s game after two changeups from Trevor Richards bounced in the dirt and ricocheted off his right hand/wrist. The X-ray was negative for a fracture, but Jeffers was removed for a pinch hitter in the ninth inning. “We saw him flexing,” Baldelli said. “Sometimes those guys, they can’t even feel their hand. They’re totally numb and not feeling too great, and they just keep playing most of the time. I think he was in that boat during the game.”

• Cardinals catcher Willson Contreras broke a finger when he was hit by a Pablo López pitch in the fourth inning Saturday night and is headed to the injured list.

Contreras was leading off the fourth inning when Twins pitcher Pablo López came up and in. Contreras couldn’t get out of the way as the ball struck his right hand.

He was serving as the Cardinals’ designated hitter, so he stayed in the game to run the bases and see if the pain and swelling would go down, but he was replaced by pinch-hitter Matt Carpenter in the sixth.

‘’We took a blow today,’’ Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol said. ‘’It’s been a tough year. He’s been beat up quite a bit. He’s fought through a lot of it. He’s played with some pain.’’

• Infielder Brooks Lee hit a two-run homer in his first at-bat on his rehab assignment Saturday during the St. Paul Saints’ 6-3 loss to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre at CHS Field. Caleb Durbin hit a decisive three-run homer in the ninth inning off Jeff Brigham.