Twins use workout to test readiness of injured stars
Twins #Twins
And even before that workout began, Correa expressed confidence in being ready for Game 1 against the Blue Jays on Tuesday — as expected.
“I’ve been able to do pretty much everything,” Correa said. “Ground balls, hit, some live at-bats, run, I’ve been doing everything. I feel good.”
His was always the case with least uncertainty, though, with he and the Twins having maintained all long that he’d be ready for the postseason. With Lewis and Buxton, Monday could prove a more significant test.
Entering Monday, all indications were that Lewis had been trending well in his workouts at Target Field while the Twins played their final series of the regular season in Colorado, and it could be more of a question of whether Lewis is able to play the field than of whether he will be on the roster at all, since he has already shown the Twins that he can hit without issue.
Either way, the Twins can manage. If Lewis is at third base, that would be the best-case scenario for the club’s defensive alignment; if he’s at DH, the Twins can make do with Edouard Julien at second base and Jorge Polanco at third, which would have seemed like more of a dicey proposition weeks ago, before they both showed improvement at those spots.
“Obviously, [Lewis has] been great all year long,” Correa said. “Every time he’s in the lineup, he’s a game-changer. So, he’s been putting in the work, he’s been going out there and looks really good. So, yeah, I’m very optimistic.”
Buxton presents even more of a question, and entering Monday, it appeared much less likely that he would be on the roster, considering he hasn’t played in a Major League game since Aug. 1 and he has only had 14 plate appearances in the Minors since then.
Especially with Lewis likely limited defensively, Buxton would have to show the Twins that he could play the outfield, which he has not done in the Majors this year, since adding him to the roster would likely necessitate the removal of Andrew Stevenson, who has already demonstrated proven value as a key defensive and baserunning replacement.