Prior to the Minnesota Twins dramatically turning their season around in May, one of the biggest questions that was facing the team was whether Carlos Correa's contract was turning into a nightmare. Through the first month of the season, Correa was slashing .215/.261/.318/62wRC+ with only one home run. In the third year of a six-year deal worth $200MM, Correa's slow start to the season was an emerging red flag.
Fortunately, for the Twins, Correa's turnaround has been a large part of the reason why they are back in the conversation for the American League Wild Card race. Since May 1, Correa is slashing .281/.319/.449/117wRC+ with four home runs. With the Twins' starting rotation in a state of flux at the moment, given the injuries to Pablo López and Zebby Matthews, the Twins will need to be reliant on Correa returning to form if they are going to remain in contention.
Correa heating up was the biggest question for the Twins when The Athletic revealed their latest MLB Power Rankings. The Twins were tied with the Tampa Bay Rays for the No. 12 spot in the power rankings, with the emphasis being that they could continue their rise if Correa returns to form.
Carlos Correa will be key to the Twins remaining in contention.
Now, as the calendar has flipped to June, Correa is showing signs of cooling off. Through his first 23 plate appearances this month, Correa is hitting under .200 with a 23 wRC+. In other words, as the Twins are finally seeing signs of life from Royce Lewis, Correa appears to be slipping back into a slump.
The silver lining for the Twins is that there is a need for some further context around Correa's slow start to June. Correa is among the Twins' players who likely were not fans of playing the Athletics in Sacramento last week, and Correa dealt with a resulting back issue that forced him to miss a handful of games. While Correa hasn't been a stranger to back issues throughout his career, last week's hiccup could be chalked up to the playing conditions in Sacramento. Done playing in minor-league stadiums this season, the Twins hopefully will see Correa continue his turnaround moving forward.