Carlos Correa on injured list for concussion; Byron Buxton undergoing tests

MILWAUKEE – The Twins placed Carlos Correa on the seven-day concussion list Friday, one day after his collision with Byron Buxton in shallow center field, while Buxton continues to test for a concussion.

Buxton, who attended the team’s pregame hitters’ meeting but didn’t participate in any on-field drills before Friday’s series opener against the Milwaukee Brewers, remains on the Twins’ active roster as he undergoes more testing from Major League Baseball’s concussion protocols.

The Twins promoted shortstop Ryan Fitzgerald, who was hitting well at Class AAA, to fill Correa’s spot on the roster.

Players can remain in MLB’s concussion protocols for multiple days without being cleared to play.

MLB’s concussion protocol requires all players to undergo baseline neurocognitive testing before the start of the season. The baseline data can provide a way to measure players after a potential brain injury.

“We could know more anytime with Buck, but the last I’d heard, he was still going through some versions of the testing,” Twins Manager Rocco Baldelli said. “There are different thresholds, different stages to those tests.”

Correa was briefly at American Family Field on Friday, but he returned to the team’s hotel more than four hours before Friday’s game.

“Some of the tests that [Correa] actually went through today went fine and some didn’t,” Baldelli said. “As soon as something doesn’t, that’s it. There is nothing else to really discuss. We get him basically into the recovery phase as opposed to us testing him and seeing if he can play.”

In Baltimore on Thursday, Buxton secured a catch in the third inning before crashing into the back of Correa, their heads knocking against each other as they fell to the ground.

“There may be only a three, four, five-foot area on the field where you’re in the other guy’s space,” said Baldelli, who hadn’t watched a replay of the collision. “It just found that place.”

Fitzgerald, a lefthanded hitter who will turn 31 next month, gives the Twins another middle infielder with Correa sidelined, allowing Willi Castro to play in the outfield.

In 35 games with the Class AAA St. Paul Saints this year, Fitzgerald was batting .328 with 11 doubles, four homers, 21 RBI and a .426 on-base percentage.

“Any opportunity I can get – I told Rocco, if you want me to catch, just get me the gear,” said Fitzgerald, who spent eight years toiling in the minor leagues.

It’s been a long road for Fitzgerald, who wasn’t picked in the 40-round 2016 amateur draft out of Creighton University. The Burr Ridge, Ill., native began his pro career with the independent Gary SouthShore Rail Cats in 2017 where he drove an hour to games and was paid $800 a month.

Fitzgerald spent six years in the Boston Red Sox’s farm system, two offseasons playing in the Dominican Winter League and one year with the Kansas City Royals’ Class AAA team before he signed a minor league deal with the Twins in January.

“You know, someday I’m going to tell my kids to chase their dream. How can I tell them to chase their dream if I don’t?” Fitzgerald said. “I have to put my head on the pillow at night and be able to sleep knowing I gave everything I had.”

After Saints manager Toby Gardenhire told Fitzgerald he was headed to the big leagues, Fitzgerald’s flight from Des Moines, Iowa, was canceled, so he made the five-hour drive to Milwaukee with his girlfriend.

What does Fitzgerald want Twins fans to know about him?

“Good hair, that’s No. 1,” he joked.

The Twins haven’t announced Zebby Matthews as their starter for Sunday’s series finale in Milwaukee, but he was scratched from his scheduled AAA start on Friday.

Matthews, the 24-year-old righthander, had a 2-1 record and a 1.93 ERA in seven starts for the Saints with 38 strikeouts and nine walks across 32⅔ innings.

* Harrison Bader was out of the lineup Friday after missing a game with left groin tightness, but he ran pregame sprints on the field. “Trending in a good direction,” Baldelli said. “He was able to not just get through that, but do it, give two thumbs up.”

* Twins reliever Michael Tonkin was transferred to the 60-day injured list to make room for Fitzgerald on the 40-man roster. Tonkin recently received a cortisone shot for bicep tendinitis.

* Baldelli said he’s feeling better after he had to depart midgame in Wednesday’s doubleheader with an illness. “I ate last night for the first time in two days, so that was a positive,” he said.