Carlos Correa's message to Twins teammates: "There’s got to be a sense of urgency"
As the team's spiral makes a playoff berth more and more unlikely, and with only five games remaining, the veteran shortstop said he sees a necessary sense of urgency from "some guys."
Carlos Correa spoke in an almost hushed tone as he discussed the Minnesota Twins’ latest loss in a collapse that has them two games out of an AL wild card spot with only five remaining. While the All-Star’s voice might not have been raised, his message to teammates (especially younger ones, it seems) was loud and clear.
“Everybody in here has been successful at some point and they know how to get there,” Correa said following the Twins’ feeble 4-1 defeat to a Miami Marlins team that is sitting on 99 losses and is at the bottom of the National League. “There’s got to be a sense of urgency in terms of showing up earlier, getting the work in and try to find something that can help us this week.”
The Twins (81-76) were only two games behind AL Central champion Cleveland and comfortably in a wild card spot as they opened a series on Aug. 19 in San Diego. Only a day earlier, the Twins had been a season-high 17 games above .500 (70-53).
They are 11-23 since and the Royals and Tigers’ victories on Tuesday increased their cushion in the wild card race. The Seattle Mariners are only a half-game behind the Twins. Minnesota’s problems have not been confined to one area, but their offense has offered little assistance. The Twins haven’t scored more than four runs in a game in over a week.
Correa, who returned to the lineup on Sept. 14 after a 51-game absence caused by plantar fasciitis in his right heel, was asked if he felt the sense of urgency that he talked about.
“(From) some guys, yeah,” he said. “Some of us hit extra today and try to figure something out. We didn’t get the win, but we’ve got to do more of that and eventually find something right away so we can go out there and put up more runs.”
Correa declined to get any more specific with his answer and said, “we’re all trying our best, and everybody wants to be in the playoffs.”
Still, Correa’s message was an interesting one considering the regular season is scheduled to end on Sunday and the Twins have been together since spring training opened in February. Having to convey that a sense of urgency is needed at this late date should be cause for concern.
The hope was Correa’s return a day after center fielder Byron Buxton came back from a hip injury would spark the entire lineup. Correa has played in eight of a possible 11 games since exiting the injured list and the Twins have won only one of those games. The Twins have won twice in the nine games that Buxton has played.
“It’s baseball,” Correa said when asked about the frustration of the Twins’ struggles continuing with him playing again. “Sometimes things happen where you just can’t stop the ball. I don’t know. It’s been a tough couple of weeks. It’s been almost a month already. From what I was watching (when he was on the IL), you get frustrated and then I’m back on the field and we’re not getting better as a team, so it’s frustrating. But we have five games to make something happen.”
Is that frustration a good or bad thing, especially with a team that is clearly pressing?
“Some guys take it as poison, some guys take it as fuel and the guys that take it as fuel are the ones who always come out on top and have a beautiful career and stay in the game for a long time,” Correa said. “We have a lot of young guys and a lot of people try to help but everybody has to figure (it) out on their own.”
It already might be too late.