After getting chewed to pieces by the injury bug right out of the gate this season, it seems the Minnseota Twins are startint to turn a corner.
Both Carlos Correa and Jhoan Duran are on the IL, with the latter having yet to make his season debut with the Twins due to a forearm injury. Duran was one of four relievers who started the season on the injured list joining Justin Topa, Caleb Thielbar, and Josh Staumont.
Two of those guys have since been activated, with Thielbar joining the Twins last week and Staumont heading to Triple-A. That's where Duran has been, as his rehab assignement started this week and all signs seem to point toward him returning to the Twins soon.
Duran threw an inning for the St. Paul Saints on Tuesday, allowing two runs but posting a 50 percent whiff rate and throwing 55 percent of his pitches for strikes.
Jhoan Duran goes 1.0 inning allows 2 runs on four hits while fanning 3. He threw 27 pitches, 15 for strikes. His 6 fastballs averaged 98.1 mph and topped out at 99 mph. He threw 14 curveballs and 7 splitters (or splinkers if you will). He had a 50% whiff rate on 10 swings pic.twitter.com/2Eq1WkQaog
— St. Paul Saints (@StPaulSaints) April 24, 2024
He's still working his way back, but the timeline seems to suggest he could be in the Twins' bullpen soon. The good news doesn't end there, though, as Carlos Correa seems to be working his way back as well.
Latest injury updates on Carlos Correa and Jhoan Duran are fantastic news for Twins
Duran's timeline is more fluid than Correa's, who could be back with the Twins as soon as next week's series in Chicago.
Carlos Correa did some light glove work off to the side on the field today and said he's swinging and into baseball activity.
— Do-Hyoung Park (@dohyoungpark) April 24, 2024
Sounds like there's some possibility that he could come off the IL on the coming road trip without a rehab assignment if things keep trending well.
Correa has been on the IL since suffering a mild right intercostal strain against the Detroit Tigers back on April 12th. It was another brutal blow to Minnesota's lineup, one that has already lost Royce Lewis for at least a month if not more and had also sent Max Kepler to the IL at the same time.
Kepler returned for this current series against the White Sox, one in which he's come blazing back into the picture in. Even before getting injured Correa was hot at the plate, so if he has a Kepler-style surge back into the lineup then the Twins' offense will get the type of boost it's deperately needed all season long.
It's been a tough start to the season on a number of different levels, but things seem to be eveninig out for Minnesota. Hopefully the injury bug has gotten its fill and will move on, at which point the Twins might finally start to put the type of season together that we've all been expecting them to.