Based on Royce Lewis’s 5 1/2 minutes with media on Monday afternoon, the odds of him being in the lineup when the Twins face the Blues Jays in Game 1 of their best-of-three Wild Card series don’t seem very good.
“Unfortunately, it’s been very maintained. It’s been the same, progressively a little bit better each day but it’s not significant to where I got a big smile on my face where I know secretly I’m going to be locked in, ballin’ out. We’ll see where we’re at tomorrow,” Lewis said when asked how he’s feeling.
Lewis strained his hamstring last Sept. 19 and it landed him on the injured list for the rest of the regular season. The rookie infielder was crushing at the plate for Minnesota, slashing .309/.372/.548 with 15 home runs and 52 RBI, including four grand slams.
Just days after the injury Twins manager Rocco Baldelli expressed tempered optimism that Lewis would be healthy enough to play in the postseason, saying “If he can swing, there’s a chance he can be our DH.”
Lewis said Monday that he “felt normal” swinging in the batting cage, though he was quick to point out how different game situations are and he reiterated time and again that he doesn’t want to rush back and risk missing the entire postseason.
“I would love to do anything at this point. Just based on feel, I think DH would be great. That’d be a big step,” Lewis said. “I’d love to be out there but I also don’t want to be a hinderance to this team at all. This team’s rolling. I just want to be a part of it any way. If I’m a cheerleader that’d be great. If I’m hitting homers that’d also be great, so whatever I can do, whatever Rocco and the team thinks is best, I’ll do that.”
Lewis has done some running but nothing close to 100% yet.
“We’ve done a little bit. It’s kind of like based on how it feels. When it’s a tougher day it’s hard to kind of push through that. I don’t want to be out for the rest of the year or even affect my offseason program. Trying to get as healthy as possible so that we can make sure I’m 100% while I’m playing.”
“God willing, I’ll be blessed enough to wake up feeling 110% and can ball out,” Lewis added.
"We got a really good locker room for that, right?!"
-Royce Lewis on where he'd go for #MLB postseason advice at #MNTwins wild-card series workout day. pic.twitter.com/OuFX2QcJWo
— FanDuel Sports Network North (@FanDuelSN_NOR) October 2, 2023
“God willing, I’ll be blessed enough to wake up feeling 110% and can ball out,” Lewis added.
