Carlos Correa (back soreness) out of Twins' lineup for third straight day

Twins star shortstop Carlos Correa is out of the lineup for a third consecutive day due to back soreness. He didn't play in either of the final two games of Minnesota's road series against the Athletics, and he isn't starting in their return to Target Field on Friday night against Toronto.

Correa believes his back issue is related to slipping in the too-firm batter's box at the A's temporary minor-league ballpark in West Sacramento. He called it the "worst box I’ve ever stepped in." Correa tried out different cleats to improve his grip, but those began to hurt his feet. He thinks his back got hurt due to trying to overcompensate from the slipping, and he decided it wasn't worth playing in the last two games of that series and risking further injury.

That all comes from a Dan Hayes story in The Athletic on the challenges Twins players faced while playing in two different minor-league ballparks during their recent road trip. Twins starter Joe Ryan believes poor mound conditions in Sacramento may have played a role in the significant shoulder injury suffered by Pablo Lopez during his start there.

Manager Rocco Baldelli expressed confidence that Correa will be able to return on Saturday afternoon, according to Aaron Gleeman. The three-time All-Star has just a .665 OPS this season, but he had been heating up offensively in late May. He also remains one of the elite defensive shortstops in all of baseball.

Here's the Twins' Friday night lineup for their first game at Target Field in nearly two weeks. Brooks Lee will start at shortstop again.