MINNEAPOLIS -- Once Royce Lewis started obliterating baseballs at Triple-A St. Paul, it became clear that he at least had a chance to be back in the Major Leagues sooner rather than later. What would have been hard to envision as recently as a week ago was what position he’d play.
Lewis was recalled Saturday after a 2 1/2-week stint in the Minors in which he posted an eye-popping .340/.417/.868 line at the plate, and in his first game back with the Twins, he started at second base. Outfielder James Outman was designated for assignment in a corresponding move.
Formerly the Twins’ everyday third baseman, Lewis is now likely to move around the diamond, seeing time at second, first, and possibly third and designated hitter as well. Lewis sounded open to the plan.
“Playing in the big leagues is comfy,” Lewis said. “Let’s just start with that. I feel great. I’m ready to get in the box every time, and however I can do that.”
The Twins optioned Lewis on May 19 as he found himself mired in the deepest slump of his career (.163 average with three home runs), hoping that the reduced pressure of the Minors would help him make the adjustments he needed in order to be a key part of their lineup again. It appears to have been successful, based on both the results and the club’s observation. Lewis has stopped working with the outside hitting coach he took on over the winter.
A source indicated there was no friction regarding that coach -- it just wasn’t working for Lewis on the field. As for other adjustments he made, Lewis was somewhat coy, but he acknowledged that he made some changes in his setup.
“A little bit,” Lewis said. “Just small stuff. Keeping it simple and going back to being Royce.”
A former No. 1 overall pick, Lewis’ journey to this point has been circuitous. He played like a superstar in 2022 and 2023, even after missing much of the first part of ’23 due to injury. He dealt with injuries and inconsistency throughout 2024 and ’25, and actually got a brief look at second in ’24 (two games, one of which was a start) before the idea was abandoned.
This time it seems both he and the club are committed to Lewis’ defensive versatility. He made starts at second and first at Triple-A, once the organization was convinced he was feeling right at the plate again.
“It was on our minds as you just think about best roster constructions,” said general manager Jeremy Zoll. “But [we] wanted to start with, 'Hey, we want to get your offense back on track.' To avoid just dumping a bunch of different things at -- whether it’s Royce or any different player -- let’s kind of go stepwise here. One step at a time. Obviously, the offense kind of clicked in pretty short order.”