Byron Buxton and Carlos Correa may be back on the active roster, but the Twins have made it clear that the two stars are not fully healthy.

Even knowing that, the Twins opted to bring them back “the earliest we reasonably could,” manager Rocco Baldelli said, to get as much help from the two stars as they could down the stretch. So, it didn’t come as much of a surprise to see both out of the starting lineup on Sunday, a game the Twins won even without the two big bats.

“When they could help us and when they could actually play, we brought them back,” Baldelli said. “And now we just have to make it work.”

And making it work will mean playing without Buxton (hip) and Correa (heel) on occasion and assessing how they’re doing on a daily basis to determine their availability.

Leaving them on the bench on Sunday, Baldelli said, should mean they’re ready to play on Monday when the Twins begin a big series against the division-leading Cleveland Guardians.

“We start with a plan, but then there are going to be days where it’s going to be decided a little later, where we might have an idea, but we want to check on them and see what they’re doing,” Baldelli said. “Believe me, this isn’t like a 100 percent type conversation. If they’re 100 percent, they’d play.”

Inherited runner woes

When Simeon Woods Richardson left Saturday night’s game, he left with the bases packed. Very quickly, all three of those runners scored.

It’s been an ongoing issue for the Twins this season, who have let the highest percentage of inherited runners score among all major league teams. Heading into Sunday’s action, 45 percent of inherited runners had scored off Twins relievers. League average was 33 percent.

“It hurts our starters, who are coming out of games and every baserunner, it feels like, at times, is scoring that they leave out there,”  Baldelli said before reliever Ronny Henriquez worked out of an inherited bases-loaded jam Sunday. “That’s hard. It’s frustrating. It’s difficult to wrap your head around.”

But Baldelli doesn’t necessarily have any theories as to why it’s happening, especially because it hasn’t been an issue in recent years. A season ago, Twins relievers were at 28 percent. In 2022, it was 29 percent.

“Process-wise, the way that we handle these guys when they come in the games, the way that we prepare our relievers when we come into games, that hasn’t changed a ton, and that doesn’t feel like that should be something that should be that out of whack,” Baldelli said. “But it has been.”

Briefly

The Twins had a handful of players wear No. 21 on Sunday in honor of Roberto Clemente Day across Major League Baseball. Those players included the Twins’ Puerto Rican players, as well as those who had been a finalist for the Roberto Clemente Award, which is given to the player who best exemplifies Clemente’s values and character on and off the field. Starting pitcher Pablo López is the Twins’ nominee this year.