Although he went 2-for-4 in the Twins’ 2-1 loss to the Kansas City Royals yesterday and has been consistently hitting the ball hard, Carlos Correa has a horrid 26 OPS+ after the Twins’ 3-8 start to the season.

The main reason for Correa’s poor offensive results this year is his 60.6% ground ball rate, compared to 45.8% in his career.

On Tuesday’s edition of the SKOR North Twins Show with Trevor Plouffe, the former Twins third baseman said he felt Correa’s struggles at the plate are mainly due to the former Astro not allowing his hands to be free enough.

“[Josh Donaldson] always talked about creating space with your front hip. He would say, ‘Hey man, if I could, I would have my front foot parallel to the batter’s lines, so I can open my hip up so I can give my hands room to work,’” Plouffe said.

Plouffe said he feels with Correa not giving his hands enough space, the All-Star shortstop’s front shoulder ends up positioned too far in and his hands too far back.

“When [Correa] goes to make contact, [the bat] has more room to travel, so when that happens now, all of a sudden, you have to be quicker with it, and your swing kind of gets cut off, and you start topping balls,” Plouffe said.

Correa’s poor .150/.209/.225 slash line is a big reason for Minnesota’s struggles in 2025. Given the fact that he is the team’s highest-paid player this season ($37,333,333), the Twins shortstop needs to find a way to elevate the ball more consistently if he wants to play in October.

Other underlying statistics suggest Correa will get back on track

Besides the high ground ball rate, Correa’s other underlying stats suggest a resurgence at the plate is imminent. His xwOBA is .315 while his wOBA is .200, and his hard hit rate of 45.5% is 2.8% above his career average.

Correa’s performance last night was a step in the right direction, as both of his hits were doubles in the air off formidable left-handed starter Cole Ragans. One of the hits landed in no-man’s land near the left field line, and the other was a 378-foot rocket to right field.

Correa and the Twins will aim to get back in the win column when they face the Kansas City Royals in game three of the four-game set at 6:40 p.m. tonight at Kauffman Stadium.