Twins' Royce Lewis has been on fire since his reset

After a season and a half of disappointing play and injuries, the Minnesota Twins decided to option Royce Lewis to the minor leagues on May 19 to give him a reset. 

The former first-round (first overall) pick of the Twins in the 2017 draft hit a career-worst .163 with a .540 OPS and suffered a left knee sprain, which placed him on the 10-day injured list from April 11 to 21. However, since joining the Twins Triple-A affiliate, the St. Paul Saints, Lewis has been scorching hot. 

In 13 games with the Saints, Lewis is batting .358 with a jaw-dropping 1.395 OPS and has mashed 10 home runs in 53 at-bats. Notably, the 26-year-old started at second base on June 4 and will see more time at the keystone position. 

According to Twins manager Derek Shelton, Lewis will also be asked to learn first base to help increase his versatility. 

“I think it’s very important for all of our players, whether they’re here or in the Minor Leagues… it’s important for us organizationally that guys play multiple positions,” manager Derek Shelton said to Matthew Leach of MLB.com. “There’s very few guys that we feel are going to be locked into one spot. … We will continue to explore not only with players in the Minor Leagues in Royce’s case or players at the Major League level at other positions.”

Lewis has been a primary third baseman in his career (230 games, 220 starts) and has two career games at second base (one start) in 2024.

Derek Shelton will need to get creative with Royce Lewis if and when he returns to the Twins

Since going down to Triple-A, Shelton has needed players like Brooks Lee, Tristan Gray, Luke Keaschall and Orlando Arcia to step up. All, except for Gray (.190 batting average, a .499 OPS and 15 strikeouts in 42 at-bats). 

Lee and Keaschall were the two standouts for the Twins last month and are the two standing in the way of Lewis returning. Lee batted .267 with a .761 OPS, hit seven doubles, a triple and three home runs, while Keaschall batted .291 with a .790 OPS, hit six doubles, a triple, and walked 11 times (struck out 14) in 79 at-bats. 

Learning to play first base will help Lewis's chances of returning to the big league roster. Lee and Keaschall have solidified their positions since Lewis left, and with shortstop being too athletic a position for some as injury-prone as Lewis, moving to first base could be a long-term solution to his injury woes.