CHICAGO — Carlos Correa is joining the red-hot Minnesota Twins.
Winners of seven straight games, the Twins will receive an all-around boost as Correa is expected to be activated off the 10-day injured list before Monday night’s series opener at the Chicago White Sox, according to a team source.
The Twins are expected to option rookie Austin Martin to Triple-A St. Paul to make space for Correa, who’s been on the IL since April 12 with a right intercostal strain.
Correa is batting .306/.432/.444 with one home run and four RBIs in 44 plate appearances this season. He joins an offense firing on all cylinders.
A week ago, the Twins were 7-13, hitting .195/.281/.329 and scoring 3.4 runs per game. Following a week-long sausage fest in which they feasted on below-average opponents and in the dugout hoisted a packaged summer sausage every time they scored, the Twins are a game above .500.
In their past seven games, the Twins are hitting .348/.406/.602 and scoring 8.1 runs per game. During that period, previously slumping veterans Carlos Santana, Willi Castro and Kyle Farmer have begun to hit.
Now, the Twins add their best all-around player to the lineup as the get set to take on the suddenly resurgent White Sox once again. After winning only three of its first 25 games, Chicago swept Tampa Bay over the weekend.
Correa is rejoining the Twins without the benefit of a minor-league rehab assignment. He last played in an April 12 loss at Detroit, suffering the injury on a cold night while making a diving catch.
The shortstop is the first of several high-profile players expected to return to the Twins this week. The team could also get relievers Jhoan Duran and Justin Topa back while they’re on the South Side. Both were projected to be among the Twins’ back-end relievers yet neither has pitched this season, Duran sidelined by a right oblique strain while Topa has been out with left knee tendinitis.
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