Twins shortstop Carlos Correa opts for caution when it comes to stealing bases

Carlos Correa did nothing to celebrate an unusual anniversary on Saturday. But then again, not doing something is kind of the point.

On April 9, 2019, Correa headed for second base during a Josh Reddick at-bat, and beat the throw from Yankees catcher Austin Romine. It was his first stolen base of the season — and the last for, well, three years now.

That may seem odd for an All-Star player, particularly one who swiped 27 bases in his first two seasons in the majors. But there's a good reason for not stealing bases, or even attempting to steal one in that time, Correa said: "Staying healthy is the most important thing I can do."

A fervent student of baseball statistical analysis, Correa weighed the risks inherent in stealing bases against the benefits of being successful. He was being thrown out less than 20% of the time — Correa is 33-for-41 in his career, an 80.5% success rate — but feared that the physical toll might eventually cost him playing time.

"It's a decision I had to make. Every time you steal a base, there's a greater risk of injury, right? The tag can take you out, hitting the base, you can twist your ankle, break your hands," Correa said. "It's higher risk for little reward. I realized that I'm more valuable offensively and defensively than I am trying to steal bags."

Correa had to be carried off the field at Class A Lancaster after breaking his right ankle sliding into third base, a season-ending injury that he said made the risks more tangible.

"I'm not the fastest guy, either," Correa said. "If I was a [fast] runner, for sure, I would steal more because there are some free bags out there. But I'm an average runner. I'm not going to go out there and steal bags every day. I can steal a few, but I'm more valuable being in the lineup than getting nicked up."

Jorge Alcala has been dealing with what manager Rocco Baldelli terms "mild arm soreness" since early in spring training, and "it wasn't getting better." On Tuesday, the Twins decided it was time to let it heal.

Alcala was placed on the 10-day injured list, and righthander Griffin Jax was recalled from St. Paul.

A magnetic resonance imaging test "came back fine," Baldelli said. "There was a little bit of signal in there, but not enough to be alarmed about. But enough that we were going to give him a little bit of a break."

The righthanded reliever had allowed two hits but no runs in 2 1/3 innings this season. Jax pitched two scoreless innings for the Saints on Saturday.

The way Josh Winder figures it, his parents might be better off in Virginia.

"They'll get a better view on TV anyway," the rookie righthander joked Tuesday, a couple hours before his major-league career became more than theoretical.

Winder, a starter being groomed for a long-relief role that wasn't needed in the Twins' first four games, got to spend the first weekend of the baseball season with his parents, Lee and Leslie, and his sister Leah. But work and school prevented them from staying any longer, and they returned to their Richmond home without witnessing Josh's big-league debut Tuesday night.

Winder didn't allow a hit in his fifth-inning debut against the Dodgers, but two walks and a double steal cost him a run.

"It's fine, they'll be here a few times this season," Winder said. "We go to Baltimore in a couple of weeks, so they'll be able to visit when we're there."

In the meantime, Winder believes he benefitted from the time spent watching instead of pitching. Not only is he busy adjusting to a new league, but a new role. In three years of college at VMI and three seasons of professional baseball, Winder had never made a relief appearance before Tuesday.

Learning how to prepare for his first one hasn't been stressful, the former seventh-round draft pick said. It's been fun.

"It's been nice to kind of settle in, to figure out the flow of everything. I've had to develop my own routine and figure out how I'm going to make my body feel best," Winder said. "I've been throwing a little every day, and off the mound twice, so I feel good."

After becoming a first-time father himself last September, Baldelli noticed that there are more than a half-dozen new fathers on the Twins' roster this spring. So the manager on Tuesday distributed copies of his daughter Louisa's favorite book, "Goodnight Moon," inscribed to each of them, to those players in the clubhouse.