Twins provide update on former No. 1 pick after frightening collision
Remarkably, former No. 1 overall pick Royce Lewis is okay after a frightening collision at first base Sunday against the Cleveland Guardians.
Batting in the designated hitter spot for the Minnesota Twins, Lewis collided with Guardians' first baseman Gabriel Arias while running out a ground ball. The impact sent Lewis tumbling over Arias before he landed awkwardly on his head and neck.
After the Twins' 2-1 loss, manager Rocco Baldelli confirmed that Lewis came out of the scary incident relatively unscathed. Baldelli told Do-Hyoung Park of MLB.com that Lewis had "no acute concerns and no concussion."
Unsurprisingly, Lewis was still pretty banged up following the game, telling Park, "I felt like I ran into a car backwards."
After enlarging bases for the 2023 season, Lewis' terrifying close call may start the call for an extension of the first base bag into foul territory, much like in softball. Though hopefully, Sunday's incident is only a one-off.
The top pick in the 2017 MLB Draft, Lewis debuted with the Twins in 2022, batting .300/.317/.550 with two home runs and five RBI in 12 games.
Lewis began the 2023 campaign in the minors rehabbing from a torn ACL suffered last May before earning the call-up to the Twins a week ago. Sunday was the 23-year-old's sixth game back with Minnesota; he's gone 5-for-25 at the plate with two homers and six RBI.
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