Carlos Correa hitting more than ever to escape early slump: ‘I’m not going to stop working’

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MINNEAPOLIS — Four hours before first pitch Wednesday, Carlos Correa took several rounds of early batting practice. He spent the next 15 minutes peppering deep right field and right-center field with line drives.

Early work is nothing new for Correa, who is trying to emerge from the slowest start of his career through constant hitting drills. But this season has required more effort than most from the three-time All-Star, who went 0-for-4 in a 5-2 win over the Baltimore Orioles at Target Field.

After belting the longest home run he’s hit in three-plus seasons with the Twins on Tuesday night, a 458-foot drive into the second deck at Target Field, Correa said he’s worked harder this season than at any time in the past five years trying to rediscover his swing.

Now, in Year 3 of a six-year, $200-million deal, Correa said he refuses to let slumps get him down enough to prevent the next round of work. Though he’s not pleased with his .226/.262/.331 start, Correa recognizes it all comes with the ebbs and flows of a baseball season.

“I’m not going to be a player that’s going to settle because he got guaranteed money coming,” Correa said. “I still want to be great. I want to be able to perform. I want to, hopefully, in the future, make a strong case for the Hall of Fame. I’m not going to stop working because I’m already guaranteed. It’s not who I am. It’s not the way I’m built. When things aren’t going great, I just put in more work and eventually something’s going to click. And when it clicks, it’s beautiful.”

Correa’s known for his lengthy pregame routine and dedication to the process. Whenever he’s asked about trying to solve his swing, Correa describes it as “fun.”

Apparently, Correa’s having more “fun” than ever as the season nears the one-quarter pole.

Carlos Correa is adjusting to working with new hitting coach Matt Borgschulte. (Brad Rempel / Imagn Images)

“That says a lot, because he’s a guy that works on his swing a lot,” Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said. “His resting place is to work pretty hard on a daily basis, so if he’s actually saying that, it kind of tells you something.”

Whether he’s going good or bad, Correa always works in the cage. Lately, Correa’s results suggest he’s on the right path as he entered Wednesday with an .828 OPS over the past 11 games.

Still, he’s determined to get it right.

“It’s what I live for,” Correa said Tuesday. “You have some bad games and then you go back to work the next day, trying to figure it out, that’s what drives me as a baseball player. Every day, you get to give your team a chance to win the game, and it just feels better when the results are coming. I just want it to keep going.”

A recent uptick aside, Correa’s season has mostly been down.

Only 13 days ago, Correa declared “my swing sucks right now” after he went 0-for-3 in a loss to the Chicago White Sox, which brought his OPS below .500 to .496. A little over a week before that, Correa exited an April 15 contest with a sore left wrist, acknowledging he’d experienced the issue last season as well. In both instances, an MRI revealed no major issues. Correa later said his wrist isn’t hindering him, and one person close to the shortstop said his wrist was in much worse shape in 2024 when he earned an All-Star nod.

“He works hard every day,” outfielder Byron Buxton said. “I couldn’t tell you if it was a light day or a heavy day, that’s how much work he puts in to try to be better day in, day out. … He’s not overdoing it. It’s him doing the small things to try and end up doing bigger things.”

Along with his struggles, Correa is adjusting to working with new hitting coach Matt Borgschulte after spending three years with David Popkins, whom he described as the best coach he’d worked with in the majors. Though both parties have worked endlessly to get acclimated, it’s a learning process.

“It’s trial by error,” Correa said. “Sometimes you try things that don’t work, and you put those aside, and you start working on different stuff, and once it clicks you go from there. But, it was the same thing when I came here my first year. At first, it was like, ‘I’m used to those hitting coaches over there (in Houston),’ and then it switches. Different philosophies, but at the end of the day, it’s the same concepts.”

Correa said the bulk of his work with Borgschulte is focused on getting into hitting positions where he can adjust more easily. Though the first 37 games of his season were filled with trying moments, Correa refuses to let the weight of it crush him.

He’ll work through it.

“It’s never frustrating,” Correa said. “It’s part of the game. You’ve got to understand you cannot be great all the time in baseball. It sucks more when it’s at the beginning of the year, but I’ve been around too long to let myself get down because of a slow start.”

Buxton, bullpen, Bader

Buxton homered for the second straight game, his three-run blast in the third inning off Baltimore’s Charlie Morton providing the Twins with the lead for good. The All-Star outfielder went 2-for-4 in the victory, belting his ninth homer of the season.

We love watching Byron Buxton play baseball. pic.twitter.com/jocQLsI83A

— Minnesota Twins (@Twins) May 8, 2025

Since returning from attending a funeral in early April, Buxton is hitting .319/.372/.649 with eight home runs and 21 RBIs in 23 games. Buxton’s been even hotter over the last 11 games with a 1.084 OPS. He credits the most recent uptick to playing in warmer weather.

“It’s hot,” Buxton said. “This is that feel-good weather. Most of the time, when the weather gets a little warmer around here, that’s pretty much when everybody starts putting things together, feeling good.  …When that happens, it comes in bunches. So it’s just riding the wave a little bit.”

Efficient through four innings, Simeon Woods Richardson struggled with two outs in the fifth, yielding three straight hits and a run. When Baltimore pulled within a run, Baldelli turned to the bullpen. Danny Coulombe took over with two on and retired Cedric Mullins to escape a jam, part of 4 1/3 scoreless innings from the bullpen.

The effort also featured a spectacular defensive play by Louis Varland to strand a pair of runners in the sixth inning as the pitcher chased down a grounder, stumbled, skidded and shot-putted the ball to retire Jackson Holliday.

“It was like a little pass — a little push pass,” Varland said. “It wasn’t graceful. I’m glad I made the play because if I didn’t, I’d look like an idiot. It all worked out, I guess.”

Brock Stewart, Griffin Jax and Jhoan Duran followed with scoreless innings, the Twins’ closer striking out the side to end the game.

Out ill since Tuesday, Harrison Bader accounted for the rest of the offense, belting a pinch-hit, two-run homer in the seventh inning. Bader also made a nice grab in the eighth inning, sliding on two knees to add another spectacular play.

Life is Bader when Harrison hits home runs 🚀 pic.twitter.com/SCAECR2kXI

— Minnesota Twins (@Twins) May 8, 2025

Ryan scratched

The Twins announced late Tuesday Joe Ryan’s start Wednesday would be scratched because of illness. Ryan is the latest Twin to experience flu-like symptoms, the same illness that kept Bader out of the starting lineup for consecutive games.

Bailey Ober will start in Ryan’s place.

(Photo: Stephen Maturen / Getty Images)

This news was originally published on this post .

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