The Twins scratched star shortstop Carlos Correa from Tuesday's lineup because of a bruised left heel he aggravated the night before in the opener of the home series against the Giants.
Correa had reached safely in each of his 12 previous games, hitting .289 (13-for-45) with a .407 on-base percentage May 10-21 entering Tuesday's game.
Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said Correa has "kind of been dealing" with soreness in that ankle, including in Monday's game. Baldelli added, "He felt it even more this morning," terming it "reasonably painful" Tuesday morning.
When asked how Correa injured it, Baldelli said, "I don't even know if he knows. I think he just started feeling it one day."
Baldelli said Correa will continue to get treatment and add some gel pads to the shoe on that foot to help cushion his heel.
"We'll see if that helps," Baldelli said.
With Correa's name not on the lineup card, Kyle Farmer moved from third to start at shortstop and Donovan Solano played at third and hit second.
First baseman Joey Gallo moved from his spot seventh in the order to the leadoff spot, which he has made clear he'd prefer not to play.
Sidelined by pneumonia
The Twins placed outfielder Trevor Larnach on the 10-day injured list retroactive to Monday because he has pneumonia.
"To be very honest, we have guys sick as a dog play through sickness all the time and nobody hears about it or talks about it," Baldelli said. "He just kept getting worse, to the point where he could not function at all."
Baldelli said Larnach was diagnosed with the "legitimate flu" and pneumonia.
"There was no way he was going to be playing," Baldelli said. "We need to let him rest for a couple of days. Even when he comes back, he's going to need a couple of days to build back up and feel like a normal human being again."
Let's play two ...
To replace Larnach on the 26-man roster, the team recalled outfielder Matt Wallner from Class AAA St. Paul right after he went 1-for-4 and scored a run in the Saints' 6-1 loss to Omaha at CHS Field that started at 11 a.m.
He was in the Twins clubhouse by 4 p.m.
Two Kansas City Royals players on rehab assignments with the Storm Chasers played key roles in the Saints' loss. Daniel Lynch tossed six shutout innings and outfielder Drew Waters went 4-for-5 and scored three runs.
The Saints managed just three hits off Lynch, and their only run came in the eighth inning when Wallner scored on an RBI groundout by Andrew Bechtold.
Maeda on the mend
Injured starting pitcher Kenta Maeda threw a 35-pitch bullpen session Tuesday, intends to throw another Friday and was on his way to a rehab assignment.
He said he threw 88 mph at the most with his fastball and expects that to "tick it up" when he starts throwing off the mound after Friday's session.
He said "everything was there today" with his velocity. "I felt really good," he said through his translator. "Ball was coming off my hand very well."
Maeda was placed on the 15-day injured list starting April 27 because of a right triceps strain. He returned this season after undergoing Tommy John surgery that wiped away his 2022 season.
Working to return
- Reliever Caleb Thielbar pitched a bullpen session Tuesday and plans to do so again Saturday in his return from a right oblique strain injury.
He was put on the 15-day injured list starting May 3. He said he was pleased he threw between 84 and 88 mph and hoped "everything feels better tomorrow."
He also said he believes he's "in the clear" from it reoccurring.
"I'm just glad we caught it early," he said.
- Baldelli said outfielder Max Kepler is "building up to where he needs to be" after a left hamstring strain landed him on the 10-day injured list.
"It has been a little longer than we thought," Baldelli said and added that he was uncertain if Kepler would go on rehab assignment.
