Lewis to begin rehab Saturday in Triple-A, could rejoin Twins Tuesday

MINNEAPOLIS -- Things continue to look good for Royce Lewis as he comes back from a sprained left knee.

Lewis went through a full workout prior to the Twins’ game against the Reds on Friday, and on Saturday he’ll begin what should be a brief rehabilitation assignment at Triple-A St. Paul. Lewis will serve as the Saints’ DH in their 2:07 p.m. CT home game against Lehigh Valley.

He suffered the injury on a swing late in the Twins’ April 9 win against the Tigers but remained in the game. However, the next night in Toronto he felt some discomfort and was placed on the injured list.

Lewis, who has maintained that he expected to miss the minimum 10 days, will likely not spend more than two games on rehab. The Saints play again Sunday and then are off Monday, and the Twins begin a road trip on Tuesday in New York. That’s the first day Lewis is eligible to be activated from the IL, and it’s expected that he will play in that game.

Ryan Kreidler and Tristan Gray have split time at third base in Lewis’ absence and have both fared well, though Kreidler made a costly error in Friday’s 2-1 loss to the Reds.

Ryan finds his rhythm
It was a very strange spring for Joe Ryan. He missed more than two weeks due to back inflammation, then was not selected to pitch in the World Baseball Classic after he had hoped to. He never really got a full run of starts going prior to his Opening Day start in Baltimore.

Now that he’s five starts into the season, though, Ryan has found a groove and is looking like the ace that the Twins need him to be. Ryan pitched six excellent innings on Friday, allowing two runs (one earned) on three hits over six innings. He struck out six and didn’t issue a walk, and he got seven swinging strikes on his four-seam fastball.

It was the second straight outing where Ryan has looked like his vintage self.

“Results have been fine,” he said. “I think there’s just a couple more things, figuring some stuff out, and just getting those extra reps in that maybe I missed in the flow of spring. But definitely getting closer.”

Keaschall searching
After a slow start, Luke Keaschall has begun collecting some base hits, but he’s still searching for the kind of impact he made as a rookie in 2025. He had an especially rough night on Friday, going 0-for-4 with a strikeout, grounding into his first double play of the year and stranding four runners in scoring position.

Keaschall said he’s working to find the rhythm that made him such a dynamic presence in the Twins’ lineup last year.

“I think it’s just being in control of your movements and executing plans,” he said. “Right now, we’re not doing that the best. All you can do is a little bit better each and every day.”

Keaschall is hitting more fly balls and popups, and fewer line drives, than he did a year ago. He’s also seen his percentage of pulled ground balls go up, like the two balls he hit to third base on Friday. His weak contact percentage is down, but so is his barrel percentage.