The Minnesota Twins will go for their 12th win in a row on Friday, in Milwaukee, against the National League Brewers. Unfortunately, they will do so without three of their best veterans, Byron Buxton, Carlos Correa and Harrison Bader in the starting lineup.

Carlos Correa and Byron Buxton are out after the two collided with each other in shallow center field on Thursday night, in the closing game of Minnesota’s most recent series in Baltimore. Meanwhile, the status of Harrison Bader is a bit up in the air entering Friday game in Milwaukee, after he missed yesterday vs the Orioles due to groin tightness.

Harrison Bader available for Minnesota Twins

So, let’s start with the good news. According to Dan Hayes (The Athletic), it sounds like Bader could be available tonight off the bench, after he was able to do full sprints before the game. Hopefully, that means he’ll be back in the starting lineup on Saturday.

Bader has been arguably the Minnesota Twins best player so far this season, already earning 1.7 bWAR in just 39 games, thanks to one of the best stretches of his baseball career, in which Bader is hitting .300 BA with an .848 OPS, 136 OPS+, 18 RBI and 12 extra base hits.

Byron Buxton avoids MN Twins concussion list

As good as Harrison Bader has been, Byron Buxton (1.8 bWAR) has been right there with him, batting .261 with an .834 OPS (129 OPS+), 27 RBI and 10 home runs. On Friday, Audra Martin (Twins.TV) reported some good news on him too. Buck has avoided the concussion list and he’s considered day-to-day going forward.

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So, from the sounds of it, we will have the dynamic duo of Buxton and Bader back roaming the outfield together sooner than later. That’s great news because it’s proven nearly impossible for opposing hitters to find green against the Twins outfield so far this season, unless they really earn it.

The beginning of Carlos Correa’s 2025 story has not gotten off to the same fairy tale start as Buxton and Bader. He’s hitting just .236 with a .605 OPS (69 OPS+), good for one of the slower starts in his career, and Correa is not known as a fast starter.

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Still, you cannot underestimate the leadership and intangibles the World Series champion and 3X All-Star brings to the Minnesota Twins dugout and clubhouse. Plus, he was hitting better recently. And if there is one player on this roster who you know will eventually turn things around, it’s him.

Carlos Correa lands on concussion list

Unfortunately, it will be at least a week before we see Carlos Correa try to continue that turnaround. On Friday evening, Correa was placed on the 7-day concussion list. The early diagnosis for Byron Buxton was still TBD, when Correa’s trip to the concussion list was first reported.

Ryan Fitzgerald is a 30-year-old career minor leaguer who will replace Carlos Correa, while he rests on the concussion list. That doesn’t mean you can’t be excited to see Fitzgerald play. This season, the former undrafted Creighton Bluejay is hitting .328 with a .953 OPS in 35 games.

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Let’s just hope he is on his way back down to St. Paul in a week, and that Correa’s head is ok. We know all too well in this town how quickly concussions can become a problem in baseball.

Both Justin Morneau and Joe Mauer saw their baseball careers significantly altered late, due to head injuries. Let’s hope the next week end up being a forgettable blip on what now looks like a successful Minnesota Twins season.