When Carlos Correa was first diagnosed with plantar fasciitis back in July, the star shortstop was initially hopeful he could come back right after the All-Star break after spending a few days off his feet.

It quickly became clear that that wasn’t going to happen. Correa missed the next 51 games. Saturday, he finally returned to the Twins’ lineup, a boost for a team that got Byron Buxton back a day earlier.

“It feels right,” Correa said of his foot. “It feels right to get back in there, in the swing of things. Realistically, I’m not going to go play every game from now on, right? I’m going to miss some games here and there. We have a great team with (manager) Rocco (Baldelli) and the athletic trainers. We’re going to know how to manage this going forward, but we want to be out there as much as possible and get ready for this late run.”

Correa had a hit in two at-bats but was taken out early in the Reds’ 11-1 blowout win.

Earlier in the week, Correa had mentioned a new treatment in the training room that had helped get his foot back to the point where he felt like he could finally play once more. While he won’t be out there playing pain-free, he’s made enough improvement to convince Baldelli and the training staff that he’s ready to return.

Correa did not go on a rehab assignment — Baldelli said they simply ran out of time for that — and instead got live at-bats at Target Field over the past week against Twins minor league pitchers.

“I think he basically got to a point where he just said, “I’m going to give this everything that I have. I’m going to go out there and I’m going to play,’” Baldelli said. “Is the heel issue resolved? No, it’s not. It’s still there. But it’s better than what he was dealing with last week, last month.”

Correa was in the midst of an All-Star season when he got injured, hitting .308 with a .896 OPS and a 148 OPS+, a mark that is 48 percent better than the league average.

Game 18

Saturday marked the Twins’ 148th game of the season. It was just the 18th that Correa, Buxton and Royce Lewis were in the same lineup.

“This is good for us,” Baldelli said. “I mean this is what we were hoping for. Obviously every game we’re hoping for this, but we finally have these guys back. Now we have to work them back into shape as quickly as possible so they can go out there and play like they can play but seeing them all in the lineup, allowing them to go out there and play with each other, hopefully build off the energy each one of them brings and all the positive things they’re going to do, you start bringing that together and I think nothing but good can come from it.”

Briefly

>> Rookie outfielder DaShawn Keirsey Jr. was optioned to Triple-A to make room on the roster for Correa.