In the top of the fifth inning in the Twins' 5-3 loss to the Orioles Thursday night, shortstop Carlos Correa was hit in the hand with a pitch. He initially stayed in the game, but was later removed. A bit after the game ended, the Twins told reporters that X-rays were completed and it could be some pretty bad news.
"Preliminary imaging does reveal the potential for a non-displaced fracture of the right middle finger," they said (via Dan Hayes of The Athletic).
Correa will get a CT scan on Friday so team doctors can get the full picture, but a broken middle finger is on the table here and that's bad news in a sport that requires throwing an orb and swinging with a wooden club. Fortunately, the worst possible news here is a non-displaced fracture, which means Correa would avoid needing surgery, but that's still a situation that will take several weeks to heal before Correa could head out on a minor-league rehab assignment to get his timing back.
Correa is hitting .255/.320/.372 with five doubles, two homers, 11 RBI and 12 runs so far this season. He got off to a slow start, but had a seven-game hitting streak before Thursday, during which he hit .452 with a homer and eight RBI.
The Twins had won 11 of their past 12 games before dropping contests to the Orioles both Wednesday and Thursday. They remain in first place in the AL Central by 2 1/2 games over the Guardians, but losing two games in Baltimore and possibly losing Correa for a stretch has put a damper on the good vibes.
Nick Gordon played shortstop to close the game Thursday. The Twins could shift Jorge Polanco to short, temporarily, with Luis Arraez getting time at second, as long as Correa is out, too. Also, 2017 No. 1 overall draft pick Royce Lewis is hitting .310 with a .994 OPS in Triple-A, too.
