Royce Lewis admits he came back too soon from hamstring injury

If you rewind time to the days after Royce Lewis injured his hamstring while running out a ground ball in a mid-March spring training game, you might recall a report that suggested Lewis's injury was far more severe than the Minnesota Twins had let on.

It was April 4 when Twins On SI covered the report from SKOR North's Declan Goff, who suggested that Lewis's strained hamstring was an injury that would prevent him from returning quickly. The Twins described Lewis's injury as a "moderate" strain, though the team never provided a clear timetable for his return.

Lewis wound up missing all of April before making his season debut on May 6. Was he really ready to return? He hit .130 with a .403 OPS in May and he wound up re-injuring the hamstring just 10 games into June.

It's unclear if Lewis's putrid numbers in May were a result of returning too soon from the injury, but Lewis himself admits that he came back too soon after re-injuring his hamstring.

“I came back way too early trying to make a push with the guys we had because we knew what the fortune was if we kept losing,” Lewis admitted, via the Twins website. “Then ultimately we ended up trading away [10] guys. Once that happened at the deadline, I was really bummed that I just came back a little too soon. My body wasn't necessarily fully trusting ... my mind, my body were off. So it sets you back, and then you have 75 at-bats where it's kind of building up spring training timing again."

Lewis missed only three weeks after the second hammy strain in June. He returned July 1 and proceeded to look uncomfortable at the plate until finally finding his groove in mid-August.

Since Aug. 17, Lewis is slashing .270/.299/.492 with a team-best eight home runs and 24 RBIs in 127 plate appearances. Those are significant improvements from what he did in his first 253 plate appearances of the season, slashing .225/.285/.351 with five homers and 27 RBIs.

“It's just hard to manage, man. It's extremely hard," Lewis said. "So I feel for everyone who goes through that, and that's what I'm happy about, too. I was healthy, this is my 100th game ... and my body feels great. I feel really good and I'm looking forward to carrying that into next year. That stamina, that excitement, and then go out there and start off fresh and not have any bumps in the road."

The Twins wrap up the season on the road this week with series against the Rangers and Phillies.

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