WEST SACRAMENTO -- Royce Lewis remains relentlessly positive. He’s having fun coming to the park. He believes in himself, and so does his team.
The results, however, are not there.
Lewis entered Monday in an 0-for-30 slump and an overall batting line of .127/.195/.197 in 21 games (71 at-bats). In fairness, he had two very-near home runs, one robbed and one to the absolute deepest part of Target Field. But .127 is .127, and it’s hard to ignore.
He was held out of the lineup in Monday's opener in West Sacramento in favor of Brooks Lee, a day after Lee pinch-hit for him in a close game in Seattle. When Lewis is right, he plays just about every day.
When he’s right, the Twins want him in the game in big moments. At the moment, he’s not right.
"If anything, right now I'm over-swinging,” Lewis said. “I'm swinging way too hard and then it feels like your head starts bouncing up and down and you start missing pitches you normally want to hit. I'm trying to slow it down a little bit.”
Still, though Lewis remains positive, he’s not delusional. He wanted to make that clear on Monday. He slumps. He knows he slumps. He knows he’s slumping now. His 2024 comment, that “I don’t do that slump thing,” was misunderstood. He never felt, nor intended to say, that he was immune from struggles.
Just that he refuses to take them into the batter's box.
"What I was trying to say mentally was I don't go into 'I'm 0-for-20-whatever,'” he said. “I go into today thinking, 'It's Luis Severino. I've faced him in the past. I feel good. I know his sinker and his four-seam,' and that's my mindset. That's what I was trying to say.
"So I'll say it: I slump. A lot of people slump. Everyone slumps. Hopefully I play long enough I slump 100 more times. That's my goal. I'm very excited to keep pushing through and have another opportunity.”
Signs point to the issue being more mechanical than mental. Lewis’ strikeout rate is actually below his career norm, and his walk rate is right in line with where it’s usually been. His average swing speed is very similar to last year, though down from his breakout 2023.
His average exit velocity and hard-hit rate are both actually up from 2024, but his barrel rate is down quite a bit from 2023 and ’24. Again, seemingly another sign that things like swing path are plaguing him more than anything.
"We’re working through some mechanical things with him,” said hitting coach Matt Borgschulte.
"Staying grounded in his legs. Getting back to the step where he’s kind of in rhythm with it. I’m excited to see how things progress. All we can do is continue to put in good work and hope that the results will continue to get better. With a guy with that much talent, it’s just a matter of time before things start going his way.”
Another thing that can’t be completely ignored is the simple contractual fact that Lewis can still be optioned to the Minor Leagues. Speculation among fans and observers has begun -- perhaps Lewis could benefit from a “reset,” a stint in the Minor Leagues to help get him right.
That does not currently appear to be in the offing. Instead, club officials are maintaining belief in the former No. 1 overall pick.
"I’m very confident that there’s still an elite player in there and there are brighter days probably right around the corner for him,” said general manager Jeremy Zoll. “These stretches are hard any time any player goes through that. Obviously Byron [Buxton] had some struggles early in the year, Carlos [Correa] had some struggles early in the year. This happens to all kinds of good players along the way and he’s a big part of what we need to get to where we want to go.”