The Twins Still Believe Royce Lewis Can Become the Player They Expected

Royce Lewis doesn't seem particularly worried about where he fits into the Minnesota Twins' plans.

That may be the most interesting part of an offseason that otherwise leaves plenty of room for uncertainty.

Lewis enters the winter coming off a season that looked like several different versions of the player at once. He was healthy enough to play 125 games in the majors, learned first base on the fly and finished with 15 home runs and 16 stolen bases. He also hit .227 with a .667 OPS and was sent to Triple-A in May after opening the season at .163/.261/.279.

For the Twins, the question is whether the version of Lewis they saw at different points this season can eventually become the version they get most of the time.

According to the Minnesota Star Tribune's Bobby Nightengale, general manager Jeremy Zoll told reporters that consistency is the biggest piece missing from Lewis' game.

“His performance on the field, obviously, had ups and downs,” Zoll said. “For Royce that success just comes down to being more consistent over longer stretches. We’d love to find a way to figure that out and to have him become the impact player that he’s shown at various points along the way.”

That last part is important because Minnesota has already seen what Lewis can look like when everything clicks.

After his demotion, Lewis spent only 15 games with Triple-A St. Paul before returning to the majors. He then hit .280 with 28 extra-base hits and an .842 OPS over his first 59 games back, seemingly giving the Twins another reason to believe his early-season struggles were behind him.

The problem was that the same issue eventually returned.

Lewis hit .187 with a .468 OPS over his final 35 games, and he acknowledged afterward that his chase rate had become a problem.

“I was feeling good. I’m seeing the ball good and, unfortunately, I chased,” Lewis said. “My adjustment needs to be to not chase as much. That’s what happened. It’s an easier said than done thing, but these are the adjustments you need to make.”

Manager Derek Shelton saw something different in the middle of the season, though. He said Lewis' mechanical adjustment was a good decision and suggested some of his late-season aggression may have come from trying to force better results.

That leaves Minnesota with an unusual situation. Lewis is no longer the obvious centerpiece he once appeared destined to become, but the Twins also aren't treating him like a player who has run out of chances.

Lewis certainly doesn't see it that way.

“I see myself as a Twin for a lot longer than that,” Lewis said, referring to the two years remaining on his team control. “This is technically my prime. ... There is still growth to be made.”

Byron Buxton offered Lewis another way to look at the season. The two have talked extensively about hitting, and Buxton pointed out that Lewis still finished with 15 home runs and 16 stolen bases despite considering the season one of his worst.

Lewis called it a “junior 30-30.”

He actually gave the Twins a fitting final image of that idea on the last day of the season, when he hit his 15th home run against Texas and jumped into the air after watching the ball clear the center-field wall.

The talent that once made Lewis the No. 1 overall pick is still visible.

Now the Twins have to decide how much longer they are willing to wait for it to become consistent.