Everyone in the Minnesota Twins' world knows that they have a Royce Lewis problem, and he's feeling the pressure. The 26-year-old is slashing just .169/.270/.312 with three homers and 11 RBIs over 23 games after slashing .237/.283/.388 with 13 homers and 52 RBIs across 106 contests last year.

Lewis opened up about his mindset so far on Thursday, via The Athletic's Dan Hayes.

“It can be really hard when you feel like your career is going in a different direction,” the California native said. “It’s been tougher because obviously we know there’s always someone on your tail. There’s always someone ready to take your next job. Every day I’m here fighting and working as hard as I can to show that I’m giving it my all to keep my job because I love what I do. I’ve been smiling. I feel fine leaving the game. But I think what scares me most is like, ‘Oh, they might try to get me out of here.’ When I leave the field, that thought does creep into my head.”

Lewis is unplayable right now, as he has just one multi-hit game this season and is hitting .135 over the last 15 days. The 2017 No. 1 overall pick continues to have a disappointing career, and it's not serving him or the team to keep him in the big leagues.

That's why Minnesota should send Lewis to Triple-A and bring up fellow infielder Kaelen Culpepper. The latter player is the organization's No. 2 prospect and has an .806 OPS over 30 games in Triple-A this season.

Getting minor-league reps would allow Lewis to work on his game without the pressure of immediate results at the top level. A demotion may hurt the veteran's confidence initially, but that could be repaired with a hot streak in Triple-A.

Additionally, the Twins could see what they have in Culpepper. The club isn't looking like a title contender at 16-22, so there's no harm in getting one of its best prospects big-league reps.

Lewis is under team control through 2028, which gives the club time before either trading or re-signing him. However, trading him now isn't the best option since his value is low.

If Minnesota doesn't bring up Culpepper, it could at least continue to play Tristan Gray at third. The 30-year-old played against the Washington Nationals on Wednesday and Thursday and is slashing .258/.299/.419 with three homers and 14 RBIs over 20 games.

Up next for the Twins is a road series against the Cleveland Guardians starting on Friday. Left-handed pitcher Connor Prielipp will start for Minnesota against left-hander Parker Messick, with the first pitch scheduled for 7:15 p.m. ET.