3 players Twins could add to replace Carlos Correa after oblique injury
With Carlos Correa expected to miss time, who will step up and replace him?
Things were already bleak for the Minnesota Twins but they somehow got even worse on Friday night in Detroit.
The last time the Twins were on the road against an AL Central opponent they lost a star player in the bottom of the third inning. Royce Lewis suffered a severe quad strain on Opening Day against the Royals, an injury that will keep him out of action for at least a month if not more.
In eerily similar fashion, the Twins lost Carlos Correa in the bottom of the third inning in the first game of a series on the road against Detroit.
Two opening series games on the road against AL Central rivals cost the Twins star players in the bottom of the third. There's not conspiracy here, just extremely bad luck that Minnesota can't seem to shake.
Correa is expected to spend time on the IL, which means the Twins will have to find a way to replace him despite its roster depth getting depleted to an absolutely dire extent.
3 players Twins could add to replace Carlos Correa
Jair Camargo, C
Minnesota is going to have to act fact to replace Correa, which means making moves with guys who are already on the 40-man roster. Unfortunately, none of the guys who are healthy play shortstop, which further complicates matters.
It doesn't, however, deprive the Twins of having a great prospect to call up.
This isn't how Jair Camargo probably envisioned making his MLB debut, but the injury to Correa means that he's likely going to be the next-man-up. He's already the team's de facto third catcher option, having been added to the 40-man roster back in November to protect him from teh Rule 5 Draft, and the Twins have high hopes for how he might factor into the future.
We're probaby going to see a glimpse of that in Detroit, both due to the Correa injury and the fact that the Twins need to play a doubleheader on Saturday with a severely depleted roster.
Emmanuel Rodriguez, OF
One of the last remaining healthy non-MLB players on the 40-man roster also happens to be perhaps the most exciting prospect the Twins have right now.
Emmanuel Rodriguez got overshadowed a bit by Walker Jenking and Brooks Lee when talking about the team's top prospects. He's the third-best prospect in the farm system and has spent the first week of the minor league season reminding everyone about just how good he is.
After notching 21 multihit games last year, third-ranked @Twins prospect Emmanuel Rodriguez is back at it in 2024 💪
— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) April 7, 2024
MLB's No. 41 talent added a pair of stolen bases in his 2nd game for Double-A @WindSurgeICT: pic.twitter.com/7cnBL81iId
On the same night when Correa was lost to an injury, E-Rod was lighting things up for Wichita. He played in both games of a doubleheader and started each with some pretty impressive plate appearances.
Emmanuel Rodriguez (@Twins) starts off the game in style ... again!
— Minor League Baseball (@MiLB) April 13, 2024
MLB's No. 40 prospect tripled to lead off Game 1 of the @WindSurgeICT doubleheader and now drills his third homer of the year to start Game 2. pic.twitter.com/wLwCjbiJ9j
E-Rod is a Top 100 prospects -- one of four the Twins have -- and is on the 40-man roster despite playing at Double-A. Logic would suggest he needs to spend a stint at Triple-A before making the jump to the majors but losing Correa could create an emergency situation in which we see yet another glimpse of the future.
He's slashing .389/.542/.889 with a 1.431 OPS and 6 RBI in just five games. It's a very small sample size, but E-Rod is showing the proper type of development after a similarly great year at Single-A last year.
A jump to the MLB roster is aggressive, and the Twins risk rushing him too soon. Then again, the siutation is rather dire and drastic moves might need to be made. Rodriguez getting the call would both be exciting and a potential blessing in disguise after a blow like losing Correa.
Yunior Severino, INF
While it was looking like Brooks Lee would be the next top prospect to get called up, Yunior Severino might end up being the infielder we see hit the MLB roster first.
He lit up the farm last season, hitting 24 homers in 87 games at Double-A Wichita and then loudly announced himself at St. Paul in a way that should excite Twins fans hoping to see some offensive sparks at the plate.
This one didn't even register on Statcast. We can only assume Yunior Severino's homerun was an estimated 792 feet. Two-run blast to right, his 6th of the season with the Saints and his 30th overall. He becomes just the 8th player in the Minor Leagues to hit 30 home runs this year pic.twitter.com/9tBVcLiRjD
— St. Paul Saints (@StPaulSaints) September 6, 2023
The downside is that things haven't gone so great for him with the Saints so far this season. Severino is hitting a nearly unplayable .059 in ten games which is a far cry from the .320/.511/.832 he slashed last season. He also hit 11 home runs after making the jump to Triple-A, finishing the Eason with 35 total which is more along the lines of what we'd like to think his production level is.
What he's producing now is concerning, and isn't exactly what a struggling Twins offense needs. That being said, he fills a need in the infield and can free up Kyle Farmer and Willi Castro to platoon the left side of the infield, or could play behind Jose Miranda at third base to provide some depth.
It's not ideal, but we're getting to the point where beggars can't be choosers.
Trevor Larnach, OF
This one is tricky, but it could be a case where the Twins wait a minute to put Correa on the IL to give Larnach some time to rehab.
He's currently down in Fort Myers working his way back from turf toe that caused him to miss the start of the season in St. Paul. Chances are had he not been battling that he'd be up with the team already, but the injury has caused a bit of a delay and complicated Larnach being a viable injury replacement option.
There was a path for him to the MLB roster before the injury to Correa. Matt Wallner is slumping hard at the plate and it might behoove the Twins to send him down to Triple-A to try and get right. In that scenario, assuming he was healthy, Larnach makes perfect sense as a replacement for Wallner in the majors.
With Correa out he makes even more sense, but the timing of the injury is key here. It seems he's close to getting back but not quite ready to factor into things. What this could lead to is a situation like the Twins had with Max Kepler where they wait to put Correa on the IL but that might be overcomplicating a situation that has a simpler solution.
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