CHICAGO — Carlos Correa wants to make a rehab assignment before returning from plantar fasciitis that has forced him to miss 17 games through Monday night’s game against the Cubs at Wrigley Field.

He didn’t do that last season when returning from the same injury, in a different foot, and wishes he had.

“I felt like last time I didn’t get any at-bats, and it took me two, three games to get back to form, and then you’re playing catch-up,” he said last Saturday. “So, I think we’re in a good spot, and hopefully I can get back in there as soon as possible.”

Could that be as soon as this week with Triple-A St. Paul? The Saints are host to six games against Columbus, but the all-star shortstop still needs to clear a few checkpoints before playing anywhere. As of Monday afternoon, there were no plans for Correa to be at CHS Field on Tuesday.

Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said Correa will go out on assignment but said Monday, “I’m not exactly sure when it is at this point, but sooner than later. … He’s doing well. He’s getting close.”

The Twins are 9-6 since Correa was sidelined just before the all-star break, and the goal is to get him back feeling good rather than get him back as soon as possible. On the other hand, it would be nice to have him back for a four-game series against Cleveland this weekend at Target Field.

The Guardians have a 4½ game lead on the Twins in the American League Central Division with 50 regular-season games remaining.

Fashion? It’s ‘comfort’

Carlos Santana turned 38 in April, but that doesn’t mean he can’t be a fashion trend setter, even if other major league players haven’t warmed to his pants-over-the-knees look.

“For right now, no,” Santana said. “I’m the only player using (it).”

The first-year Twins first baseman used to wear his baseball pants down past his shoe tops in the still-popular style pioneered by former Astros slugger Derek Bell. Now, he is essentially wearing shorts over a couple of pairs of lycra running pants.

Why?

“Comfort,” he said. “I changed to do something different, something fun, and to be comfortable. People like it, people don’t like it. But, you know, I feel good.”

The pants are, of course, a special order. The Twins’ equipment staff cuts the pants to Santana’s desired length, then cuffs them with elastic.

Royce Lewis is on board.

“I think he has good swag, man,” the third baseman said.

It certainly hasn’t hurt Santana’s performance this season. He entered Monday night’s game against the Cubs hitting .243 with 21 doubles, 14 homers and 48 runs batted in over 101 games while playing some of the best defensive baseball of his career.

Santana won a Silver Slugger Award as Cleveland’s first baseman in 2019 but has never won a Gold Glove, something he hopes to do this season. Correa, a great student of baseball’s statistics, said he should.

“If the season ended today, he should be a Gold Glover and a finalist for the Platinum Glove,” he said Saturday. “He’s got 11 Outs Above Average. He has been playing outstanding defense. He’s making everybody on our infield better every single day, with the way he picks every single throw that we throw in the dirt.

“I think when you seriously consider his numbers, there’s nobody better in the American League, numbers wise.”

That 11 outs above average leads all first basemen, according to mlb.com’s Statcast.

Briefly

Byron Buxton, who left Sunday’s game after hitting the wall on a catch in the sixth inning, was not in the lineup Monday. Baldelli said his day off wasn’t related to the collision and that the center fielder would play Tuesday night. … The Twins have placed left-handed reliever Steven Okert on the bereavement list. To replace him on the 26-man active roster, they recalled right-hander Josh Winder from St. Paul. … The Twins didn’t have any update Monday on Brock Stewart, who appears to be weighing whether to have season-ending surgery on his sore right shoulder.

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