Minnesota Twins Give Royce Lewis Update After Exit in Guardians Game

The Minnesota Twins have collapsed since the beginning of August, and a big reason why has been the struggles of the offense. Third baseman Royce Lewis has had an up-and-down season that encapsulates the broader frustrations of this group.

Lewis was demoted back on May 19 to Triple-A after a disastrous start to his fifth big-league season. He had previously been a productive hitter through his first three seasons, though those campaigns were interrupted frequently by injuries.

He made adjustments in the minors and came back in June, immediately thriving with a .279 batting average, .330 on-base percentage and .841 OPS across 22 games that month.

Since then Lewis has continued to struggle and his numbers on the year are underwhelming once again. He has posted a .230 batting average, .297 on-base percentage, .687 OPS, 14 home runs and 53 RBIs.

For a former first overall pick, seeing him perform at this level is a disappointment and raises real questions about whether he will be a core part of this team's future. He has a few more years of team control remaining, and other organizations would likely welcome the chance to give him an opportunity this offseason if Minnesota chooses to move on.

Unfortunately Lewis suffered another injury setback during Sunday's loss against the Cleveland Guardians. He attempted to make a diving play in the fourth inning and injured his left shoulder in the process. "Royce Lewis exited today's game with left shoulder soreness," reported Dan Hayes of The Athletic.

Lewis is considered day-to-day for now and it is unclear if the injury will lead to a stint on the injured list. If it does, his season would likely be over with the Twins sitting far outside the American League playoff picture anyway.

Lewis is no stranger to injury setbacks. The 114 games he has played this season are the most he has ever appeared in during a single year, marking just the second time in his career he has reached triple digits.

From 2023 to 2024 he appeared in just 140 games combined due to multiple injuries, and his MLB debut came years after he was drafted due to similar concerns.

The pattern has been impossible to ignore throughout his career, and Sunday's diving play was an unfortunate reminder that the health questions surrounding Lewis have never fully gone away no matter how much progress he makes in between setbacks.

Given where the Twins are right now, they will be cautious with Lewis moving forward rather than risk making the shoulder issue worse in games that carry no playoff significance.