Twins bring Carlos Correa back from concussion for series opener vs. Royals; Buxton not quite ready

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Minnesota Twins shortstop Carlos Correa passed concussion protocol and was reinstated from the 7-day injured list ahead of a three-game series against Kansas City that began Friday night.

Correa collided with center fielder Byron Buxton in pursuit of a shallow fly ball on May 15 at Baltimore, forcing both players out of that game.

“The ball was right in the sun for me, so I was like angling on the side and then when I went to make my move to get into the sun and catch it, that’s when he called me off,” Correa said. “So I moved out of the way and it happened that he caught it and he moved the same way. … It was just one of those where it was a perfect storm and everything lined up for us to collide.”

Correa added that he didn’t know what to expect in the recovery process.

“The first couple of days it was definitely weird because it was the first one I’ve ever had,” he said. “But then I started feeling better the fourth, fifth day and here we are.”

Buxton was also placed on the 7-day injured list and into concussion protocol. Twins head athletic trainer Nick Paparesta said Wednesday that Buxton was a little bit behind Correa in his recovery, with a previous concussion adding more caution to the process. A team spokesman said that Buxton was ramping up his baseball activities on Friday.

Correa, who was limited to 86 games last season because of plantar fasciitis in his right foot, has started slowly this season at the plate but hadn’t missed any time to injury before the collision with Buxton. The 30-year-old Correa had a substandard .605 OPS with eight doubles and two home runs in 41 games before he was hurt.

The Twins optioned infielder Ryan Fitzgerald to Triple-A St. Paul on Thursday to make room on the roster for Correa, who missed only five games because of a rainout and a scheduled off day.

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