October Carlos Correa shows up just in time to help the Twins advance to the ALDS

MINNEAPOLIS — October Carlos is here to provide free outs, a steady presence and the biggest hit this town’s seen in 21 years.

Signed to the largest free-agent contract in Minnesota Twins history in January, Carlos Correa played a pivotal role once again on Wednesday evening as the club advanced in the playoffs for the first time in 21 years with a 2-0 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays in front of 38,518 at Target Field.

Though Royce Lewis made all the headlines after blasting two home runs in Tuesday’s historic victory, the two-time All-Star shortstop, who signed a six-year, $200 million contract earlier this year, routinely delivered the Twins’ biggest moments throughout a brief American League Wild Card Series.

From the astute and athletic defensive play he delivered Tuesday to driving in the game-winning RBI on Wednesday to quarterbacking the biggest pickoff in team history, Correa routinely made his presence felt.

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Now, the man who’s already played in 81 postseason games is headed back to Houston to take on his former team in the American League Division Series, which starts on Saturday.

“Superstars show up in the biggest moments,” pitcher Sonny Gray said. “We saw Carlos (Tuesday). We saw Carlos (Wednesday), not just with his play — big knock, incredible plays. But just the way he sees the game, the way he can slow it down. A special player.”

One of the primary reasons the Twins wanted so desperately to bring Correa back last offseason is his intelligence. Offered a one-year preview when he fell into their laps in March 2022, Correa provided the Twins with a glimpse of all the ways he could enhance the organization.

High on their list was a belief Correa dramatically improves the team’s baseball IQ.

He demonstrated it repeatedly last season, helping Twins pitchers and catchers figure out when they were tipping pitches, improving how the advanced scouting group delivered pertinent information to players and by bringing together his young teammates off the field to teach them ways to improve their game.

On Wednesday, Correa applied his baseball acumen in a real-world situation that also happened to be the biggest spot of the season.

Though Gray was outstanding through a scoreless five-inning performance, he clearly hit a wall in the fifth. Gray, who’d stranded two runners in each of the game’s first two innings and another in the third, ran into trouble in the frame.

George Springer started the rally with a one-out single and one out later Gray issued a potentially back-breaking walk to Vladimir Guerrero Jr., which brought Bo Bichette to bat. Bichette was 4-for-6 in the series at that point, including singling twice earlier in the game against Gray.

When Gray uncorked a wild pitch during the Bichette at-bat, it allowed both runners to advance into scoring position. Suddenly, a two-run Twins lead looked flimsy.

And that’s when Correa’s power of observation and his persistence took over.

Correa noticed how Toronto’s base runners were taking huge leads all game long. He also realized the Twins possessed a powerful weapon in a crowd that for a second straight game was absurdly loud. He knew Blue Jays base runners wouldn’t be able to hear their coaches yelling “Back” on a pickoff play and wanted to call one.

“I told (Sonny) there were some free outs on the bases,” Correa said. “He was, like, ‘What do you mean?’ I’m, like, ‘They’re taking big leads. If you look at me I’ll give you a sign. In key spots, we can get some outs there.’ It felt like the right situation to do it.”

With Gray wavering, Correa thought the time was right and called the play in to catcher Ryan Jeffers, who relayed it to the pitcher via PitchCom.

Earlier, Correa insisted in the dugout they make an attempt and convinced Gray to try a play they’d practiced since spring training. After Bichette took a ball to make it a full count, Correa made the request again.

Once the play was on, Correa needed to sneak undetected to the bag from his position.

After he did, all Gray had to do was make the athletic move and fire a strike.

“I hear, ‘Timing pick, second base,’” Gray said. “Then I get on the mound and then I’m waiting, I’m waiting for it to unfold. I turn, and when I turn, I see Carlos at the bag and I see Vladdy off the bag a decent amount. So I turn, give the ball to Carlos. Carlos catches it, makes an incredible tag, goes at it, makes it and we get him out.”

And just like that — although it took a brief review by replay umpires — the Twins were out of their biggest jam of the season.

Afterward, Gray asked Jeffers if he’d called the play.

“He said, ‘No, Carlos put that on,’” Gray said. “And I said no s—. … For him to have the awareness earlier in the game to say, hey, this is an option. This is there for us. And then in a moment like that to have the awareness to relay it from the shortstop to the dugout and the dugout to relay it into the PitchCom … for him to have that awareness is what makes him special.”

The Twins still needed four more innings of brilliance from the bullpen to close out their Game 2 victory and Correa assisted with that, too. Toronto continued to apply the pressure in the sixth inning with a pair of one-out singles off reliever Louie Varland and another off Caleb Thielbar. But Thielbar buckled down and induced an inning-ending double play off Matt Chapman’s bat that was anchored by, you guessed it, Correa.

“He has a calming presence when everything starts going,” Jeffers said.

After struggling at bat all season as a result of playing with plantar fasciitis, Correa couldn’t wait for the postseason to begin. Despite his best efforts down the stretch in September 2022, Correa was denied entry into the postseason for the first time since 2016.

“I told my wife, I said, ‘I never again want to miss the playoffs,’” Correa said. “When you’re between those lines you focus a lot more. You give everything you have out there, all the energy. Every little thing that’s bothering in your body doesn’t matter. You just go out there and try to perform to win games. That’s what I’m going to keep doing, anything to help the team win.”

The zest with which Correa played these first two postseason games was evident. After Gray made the pickoff play and Correa slapped down the tag, the shortstop raced to the mound and bumped chests with the All-Star pitcher while shouting in joy. An inning later, he raced over to Thielbar after the left-hander induced the inning-ending double play.

“I used to see it on TV,” pitcher Pablo López said of Correa’s playoff reputation. “No one sold him short on that. He does these things that you’re not expecting to be done. He does it. He makes it look so easy. He shows up.”

The same enthusiasm Correa showed in the field was demonstrated twice at the plate on Wednesday. Frustrated by his poor offensive performance during the season, Correa, who batted .230/.312/.399 with 18 home runs and 65 RBIs, couldn’t wait for the offensive numbers to reset.

After going 1-for-4 in the team’s Game 1 victory, Correa reached on an infield single in his first at-bat Wednesday, motoring down the line at 28.7 feet per second.

Two innings later, he received an opportunity he’d been waiting for: batting with the bases loaded and no outs against Toronto reliever Yusei Kikuchi. Correa took a curveball for a ball and followed with a soft single up the middle to give the Twins a 1-0 lead. When he reached first base, Correa once again let his emotion shine through.

“He’s kind of like Iron Man,” infielder Kyle Farmer said. “He puts that mask on, that playoff mask, and he comes out and he leaves it all out there. He’s been there so many times. He knows what it takes to win.”

Everyone spent the previous 24 hours discussing Correa’s Game 1 defensive heroics.

On the play, one Lewis described as “Derek Jeter-like,” Correa raced roughly 70 feet from shortstop to retrieve a ball that scooted past Jorge Polanco, and, while on the run, made an off-balance throw inside the baseline to Jeffers, who tagged out Bichette to end a game-threatening rally. López called it an “unbelievable play.”Manager Rocco Baldelli took it a step further, describing it as “a defining play in a playoff game” that would live on in Twins baseball history.

For Correa, it’s just October, man.

“Everything is October,” Correa said. “The mentality is different. I’m just giving everything out there, everything I have. I’m going to keep doing that for the rest of the time that I’m here in Minnesota. I feel like the fans deserve that, and this is a great moment for our organization to just be able to go out there, play the way we did and win the series against a great team.”

(Photo: Daniel Shirey / MLB Photos via Getty Images)