Royce Lewis cannot be recalled from Triple-A St. Paul until June 1. But once that day arrives, it seems like a no-brainer that he’ll be on his way up Interstate 94 and arriving at Target Field to be placed in the middle of the Minnesota Twins batting order.
Healthy again after suffering a torn ACL May 29, 2022 – his second ACL tear in span of 15 months – Lewis is displaying the hitting prowess on his rehab assignment that made him the No. 1 overall pick in the 2017 MLB Draft.
He’s only played six games, but his numbers are mouth watering: .364/.417/.818 with a 1.235 OPS. Lewis has eight hits in 22 at-bats and three of his hits are home runs.
How’s his knee? Three stolen bases say it’s doing just fine.
“For me it was just stay positive and make sure that I was going to do everything I possibly can to get right, until I got back to help them out,” Lewis said, via the Saints. “That’s where I’m exactly at, I feel like I’m at 120% and I’m just having fun at this point.”
When the Twins placed Jorge Polanco (hamstring) on the injured list Friday and recalled Edouard Julien from Triple-A, fans were shocked, wondering why Julien got the call ahead of Lewis. The Twins didn’t have a choice. Lewis is on the 60-day injured list and he cannot be called up until the end of the month.
It will be a shock if Lewis isn’t called up to start for the Twins June 1 against Cleveland. If it happens, here’s an idea for what an optimal batting order could look like against a right-handed starter.
- Joey Gallo, LF
- Carlos Correa, SS
- Byron Buxton, DH
- Royce Lewis, 3B
- Alex Kirilloff, 1B
- Trevor Larnach, RF
- Kyle Farmer, 2B
- Michael A. Taylor, CF
- Christian Vazquez, C
What do the Twins do when Max Kepler and Polanco return from the IL? Kepler would presumably force Larnach back to Triple-A and the Twins could try moving Lewis to center field to keep Farmer in the lineup at third base, with Polanco starting at second base.
A healthy Twins lineup against a righty might look something like this:
- Joey Gallo, LF
- Carlos Correa, SS
- Byron Buxton, DH
- Royce Lewis, CF
- Jorge Polanco, 2B
- Alex Kirilloff, 1B
- Kyle Farmer, 3B
- Max Kepler, RF
- Christian Vazquez, C
Against a left-handed starter, it could look something like this:
- Royce Lewis, CF
- Carlos Correa, SS
- Byron Buxton, DH
- Kyle Farmer, 3B
- Jorge Polanco, 2B
- Alex Kirilloff 1B
- Joey Gallo, RF
- Willi Castro, LF
- Christian Vazquez, C
Whatever manager Rocco Baldelli decides to roll with, the lineup will be better with Lewis than it is without him. If he can stay healthy, there’s a chance he is the ultimate spark for a lineup that has been inconsistent and flat out bad most of this season.
