Royce Lewis is knocking on the door to rejoin the Minnesota Twins and with the way he’s swinging the bat during his rehab assignment, it might not be long before he gets the call back to the big leagues.
Lewis, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2017 MLB Draft, hasn’t suited up for the Twins since suffering a torn ACL when he collided with the center field wall May 29, 2022 in a game against the Kansas City Royals. It was his second torn ACL in a span of 15 months.
He underwent surgery last June and wasn’t expected to be available to the Twins until later this summer, but he’s on the fast track back and last Thursday he started a rehab assignment at Double-A Wichita.
He went 2-for-6 with a double, walk, hit by pitch, three runs and an RBI in two games at Wichita and then was called up to Triple-A St. Paul. In his first game with the Saints Tuesday night, Lewis blasted a 422-foot homer to center field. The home run ball left his bat at 107.8 mph.
We missed you, Royce🙏
In his first AAA game this season, Royce Lewis has unleashed a 422ft home run that left his bat at 108mphđź’Ł pic.twitter.com/ENyHnmdwLN
— Twins Player Development (@TwinsPlayerDev) May 17, 2023
Lewis went 3-for-5 with a homer, four RBI, a run scored and a stolen base in St. Paul’s 6-5 victory (in 10 innings) over the Columbus Clippers.
Last year, Lewis hit .313/.405/.534 with five homers and 12 stolen bases in 34 games with the St. Paul Saints before getting the call to the Twins and going 12-for-40 (.300) with two homers in 12 games before suffering his second ACL tear.
Lewis’s rehab assignment can’t last longer than 20 days, so the Twins will have to decide by June 1 if they want to keep him at St. Paul or call him up to the big leagues.
