The plantar fasciitis pain in Carlos Correa's right foot has lingered much longer than he expected when he initially went on the 10-day injured list before the All-Star break, but he was upbeat Saturday.

It was the first day he fielded grounders and jogged on the field since he went on the IL. He plans to take a rehab assignment once he's cleared to play in games, but he's still working toward sprinting, so his return isn't imminent.

"I thought it would be a lot faster," Correa said. "It hasn't reacted that way, and whatever time it takes is what we're going to take. I'm here to get back on the field, and sometimes I have to hold myself [back] because the way I feel right now is the way I played last year."

Correa is out of a walking boot, which he initially wore after receiving a platelet-rich plasma injection, and he's fine doing his typical hitting routine in the batting cages. Progressing to sprints, he said, is the biggest milestone he needs to reach.

"Just like the doctor predicted, the PRP was going to help and one day I was going to wake up and just feel a lot better," he said. "I think the last two days have been very important. We're starting to push it more. You saw me jogging out there. I felt way better than I felt three days ago."

Correa wants to spend two or three games on a rehab assignment because he felt rusty for a few games when he returned from the IL earlier this year.

"The goal is that when I come back I don't have to go back on the IL," Correa said. "I don't expect it to be fully healed to the point where I won't feel it again, but to be able to go out there and feel good enough to be able 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."

The Twins had a quiet trade deadline, acquiring reliever Trevor Richards, when they sought a starting pitcher. Correa, the Twins' leader in the clubhouse, sent some trade ideas to manager Rocco Baldelli before the deadline.

What was Correa's reaction to the Twins' inactivity?

"Like I tell the players, there is no better trade deadline addition than us taking our game to a different level," Correa said. "There is so much potential on this team and I don't think we've fully reached it yet. I think there are a lot of guys that are here on our roster, their ceiling is just so much higher with how much more they can contribute to our team.

"We've got to stop focusing on what the outside help might have looked like and just focus on what we have in-house."

Etc.

• Righthander Louie Varland struck out eight over six shutout innings, giving up five hits while walking none, as the Saints beat host Iowa 5-1.

• Twins pitching coach Pete Maki was away from the club Friday and Saturday to attend his brother's wedding. Assistant pitching coach Luis Ramirez assumed Maki's responsibilities in the dugout.

• The Twins held a pregame moment of silence Saturday for lefthanded pitcher Gary Dotter, who died July 27 at 81 after battling Parkinson's disease. Dotter pitched in seven games with the Twins over three seasons (1961, 1963 and 1964).