The Twins have another reason to think hard about Royce Lewis, and it’s coming from the minors.
Lewis’ 2025 season was a tough one to ignore: he finished with 0.5 fWAR and a .227/.287/.380 line, good for an 85 wRC+, across 125 big-league games. Zoom out to the start of 2024, and the numbers still don’t paint a rebound. Over 313 games, Lewis has produced 2.6 fWAR with a .232/.288/.401 slash line, along with 44 home runs and 156 RBI.
That’s a hard fall for a player who once looked like a centerpiece. Lewis, the 2017 No. 1 overall pick, flashed MVP-level impact not long ago.
In 2023, he hit .309/.372/.548 with 15 home runs and 52 RBI in 58 games. Then came the postseason surge, when he put up a 192 wRC+ with four home runs in six games.
The Twins’ patience has already been tested. They optioned Lewis to Triple-A in May after his rough start, and he responded with a scorching run for the Saints that got him back to the majors. Even with those flashes, the overall production settled in below average.
At this point, the case for a change is getting stronger. The source of the problem is no longer just one bad stretch - it’s been three straight seasons of weak offense from Lewis. Trading him now would sting, especially after his rise and the pedigree that came with being a former first-round pick, but the Twins could at least hope to get a usable pitcher or a prospect back.
And then there’s Marek Houston.
Minnesota took Houston with the No. 16 pick in the 2025 MLB Draft out of Wake Forest, and the early returns have been loud. He entered the draft with a reputation as the best defensive shortstop in the class, though questions about his bat followed him.
The 22-year-old has answered plenty of them already. In his first full minor-league season, Houston hit .312/.392/.455 with 12 home runs, 60 RBI and 50 stolen bases in 116 games split between High-A and Double-A.
His rise has a familiar feel for the Twins. It lines up with the path Kaelen Culpepper took after Minnesota drafted him in the first round a year earlier.
Culpepper reached Double-A by the end of his first full minor-league season and opened 2026 with Triple-A St. Paul.
Houston is expected to follow a similar route, likely starting 2027 with the Saints.
If Houston stays healthy and keeps producing, the MLB debut could come next year. That timeline matters, because it gives the Twins one more reason to start planning for life without Lewis and make room for Houston in the infield when the time comes.
In Other News...
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Twins Face A Tough Offseason Call On Key Free Agents
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Among the names in that group are catcher Ryan Jeffers, designated hitter Josh Bell and left-hander A.J. Minter, all of whom gave the Twins reasons to weigh whether they belong in the next version of the club. Their futures remain tied to what they showed in 2026, and the organization now has to decide which of those performances it wants to reward and which positions may need to be addressed elsewhere. [Read more 🡒]