The Twins are still planning around Royce Lewis, even after a season that made his future feel a little less straightforward.
Lewis’ year had two very different chapters. He opened by hitting just .163/.261/.279 in 31 games, then got sent to Triple-A St.
Paul for the first time this season. From there, he answered fast.
In 15 games with the Saints, he put up 10 home runs, 22 RBI and a .333/.403/.900 slash line, while also getting help from Twins Hall of Famer Justin Morneau on how to handle first base.
That quick reset sent him right back to Minnesota on June 6, and he gave the Twins useful production through the All-Star break, hitting .266/.328/.500 with seven home runs and 16 RBI. Most of his 32 games after the break came at first base, and he leaned into the role without making a fuss.
“You do what’s best for the team,” Lewis said. “In terms of doing it in the middle of the season, it’s extremely hard.
I respect all the players that do that and have a utility role or come off the bench. It’s extremely hard.
I learned respect for some of those positions and some of the positions being harder than others.”
The bat cooled later on. After the swing adjustments he made in Triple-A, Lewis finished with five home runs and a .234/.277/.362 line in the majors. His walk rate dropped from 9.4% to 5.5%, while his strikeout rate also dipped from 27% to 24.1%.
Even with the uneven offense, Lewis still found a way to make the year count. He finished with 140 games between Triple-A and the majors, a personal best, and that mattered to him.
“I’m proud. I came out with one goal, and my goal was to play 130-plus games and be available for Shelty, and that includes off days,” Lewis said.
“Our team, we don’t play guys like the Atlanta Braves every single day. But you take [into] account some of those off-days, 130 games, and I was able to accomplish that.”
Twins GM Jeremy Zoll said Lewis deserves credit for staying on the field.
“Yeah, I think Royce this year being able to play 140 games, obviously between both levels, but getting to 140 games is a big accomplishment for him,” Zoll said. “The IL stint he had was brief and early in the year, and obviously, health has been such a big topic for him, so to get so much playing time, he deserves a lot of credit for putting in that regard.”
Now comes the harder part: figuring out where Lewis fits next. He’s still projected at $5.7 million in arbitration, which keeps him in the “cheap zone,” and Lewis said he expects to remain in Minnesota.
“Oh, dude, I’m still in the cheap zone,” he said. “ I don’t think that’s a cross my mind kind of thing.
No, I see myself as a Twin for a lot longer than, I don’t know, what, I have two more years. Yeah, I see myself as a Twin for a lot longer than that.
I just, you know, this group is so good, and I’m still very young, like, I haven’t even - this is technically my prime.”
Zoll didn’t call Lewis untouchable, but he also made clear the Twins still see room for more. With a healthy season, the club wants Lewis to keep pushing toward the version of himself they’ve seen in flashes.
“His performance on the field obviously had ups and downs,” Zoll said, “and I think for Royce that’s just a matter of being more consistent over longer stretches, and we hope to find a way to help him be the impact player that’s shown at various points along the way.”
Lewis believes he’s more likely to stay than go, and he pointed to the team’s other financial decisions as the bigger offseason questions.
“I can’t speculate, I’m not a GM, but I don’t think that I’m the one that they’re worried about,” said Lewis. “I feel like there’s a few other ones that are probably closer to the end that are expensive - that we have to make decisions on.
But yeah, we’ll see. I feel like I’m probably gonna fit in as a first baseman, second baseman here, kind of like we’ve been doing the last second half of the season, and mix around, especially with righties and lefties and all that.”
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