Trevor Richards quietly made his Twins debut on Friday, cleaning up a 10-2 rout of the Chicago White Sox with a 1-2-3 ninth inning at Target Field.

While the Twins started Saturday holding on to the American League’s third and last wild card spot, and 6½ games behind first-place Cleveland in the Central, Richards was the team’s only trade deadline addition, acquired from Toronto for minor leaguer Jay Harris.

Carlos Correa, the Twins’ shortstop, highest-paid player and one of its two all-stars this season with Willi Castro, was asked before Saturday’s game against the White Sox about his team’s underwhelming deadline move.

“Like I tell the players, there is no better trade deadline addition than us taking our game to a different level,” he said. “There is so much potential on this team, and I don’t think we’ve fully reached it yet.”

The Twins started the day third in the Central, a game behind second-place Kansas City, two games up on Boston for the last AL wild card spot and 6-6 since the all-star break. But their 53 wins since April 22 are the most in baseball.

The Royals acquired reliever Lucas Erceg from Oakland and infielder Paul DeJong from the White Sox. Cleveland, alone in first place since April 14, added outfielder Lane Thomas in a deal with Washington, and right-handed starter Alex Cobb from San Francisco.

Cobb, 36, hasn’t pitched this season because of hip and shoulder issues.

The Twins won the Central last season and beat Toronto in a best-of-three series before losing to Houston in the ALDS. The first victory over the Blue Jays marked Minnesota’s first playoff win in 18 tries, and Minnesota got its first playoff series victory since the 2002 ALDS.

“We’ve got to stop focusing on what the outside help might have looked like and just focus on what we have in-house,” Correa said. “How much better we’re going to be as a team and how, of course, we’re going to be to compete in the playoffs, it’s all in-house.

“I think we have the talent to win it all. I think if everybody focuses on getting better every single day, everybody focuses on trying to take that leap and take that next step in their game, I think we’re going to be in a great position.”

Next steps

Correa hasn’t played since a 7-1 loss at San Francisco on July 12 because of plantar fasciitis in his right foot, but he jogged on it for the first time before Saturday’s game.

“I felt way better than I felt three days ago,” the shortstop said. “I was able to take ground balls for the first time. I’m already doing my full routine in the cage, with the machine and everything. It’s just a matter of being able to sprint and be able to build up.”

Sprinting is the next big step before he ships out for a rehab assignment. He said he and the team have a timeline they’re aiming to hit but added that he didn’t want to share it.

“I want to go a couple more days and see how this keeps progressing, and go from there,” he said.

Correa was sidelined last season by the same condition in his left foot, and played through pain after being activated late last season.

He doesn’t want to do that again.

The goal, he said, is “to be able to go out there and feel good enough to perform and not have to have the same thing happen as last year, where I was just playing the whole year through a lot of pain, and the performance just completely dipped and my body was not responding to what I wanted it to do.”

Joe’s next

The Twins are adding a statue of Joe Mauer at Target Field. His former manager, and fellow St. Paul native Paul Molitor made the announcement during a pregame ceremony honoring Mauer for his July 21 induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Mauer brought with him his Hall of Fame plaque, which was placed near home plate during the short program that featured fellow St. Paul hall of famers Molitor, Jack Morris and, through video, Dave Winfield.

“Tonight, I want to thank you, the incredible fans who have been here since Day 1,” Mauer said from a dais set up near home plate. The Cretin-Derham Hall graduate said the outpouring of support he received in the lead-up to his Cooperstown induction, “Only deepened my appreciation for this fan base, and my pride in being a Minnesotan.”

The statue will be placed outside of Target Field sometime during the 2025 season. Other Twins figures with a statue outside the park include Rod Carew (2010), Harmon Killebrew (2010), Kirby Puckett (2010), Tony Oliva (2011), Kent Hrbek (2012) and Tom Kelly (2017).

Briefly

Brock Stewart, on the injured list with a right shoulder strain, is considering whether to get a second opinion after consulting with Twins sports injuries specialist Dr. Christopher Camp before “determining the path he will follow,” the team said. … Max Kepler was available Saturday for the first time since being in the helmet by a throw in Wednesday’s 8-3 victory over the Mets in New York.