Is Royce Lewis the Next Minnesota Twins Star?
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In 2017, the Twins decided to take Royce Lewis with the first overall pick in the MLB draft. Lewis was a highly touted shortstop out of JSerra Catholic High School in San Juan Capistrano, California. Throughout his early career, Lewis was one of the Twins most exciting prospects, being ranked as high as the Twins number one prospect. Even with Lewis being the organization's top prospect for years, his road to success may have been more challenging than one may think.
In the spring of 2021, the Twins top prospect tore his right ACL during an off-season workout in February. After recovering from the injury, Lewis continued to impress; Lewis tore up Triple-A, hitting .310/.427/.560 with 10 doubles, three home runs, and eight stolen bases in 23 games. Lewis was then called up to the big club on May 6th, 2022, and continued his dominance at the big league level, hitting .300/.317/.550 in 12 games. That was until Lewis tore his right ACL for the second time in just a year and a half after jumping and colliding with the fence, catching a flyball on May 29th, 2022.
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Even when things were not looking good for the talented prospect, Lewis has been able to come back and look even better than before. Lewis started the 2023 year in double-A for a short span of two games and played in triple-A for eight games before ultimately getting called back up to the majors. After being called back up, Lewis was the Twins starting third baseman till another injury kept him sidelined — a left oblique strain. Lewis missed almost all of July recovering from the injury, and again, Lewis found himself in St.Paul, the Twins triple-A affiliate once again, on a rehab assignment.
On August 15th, 2023, Lewis played his first game for the Twins in over a month and has been a bright spark for the club. Lewis has been a mainstay at third base for the Twins and has done something no other rookie has done in the history of the MLB. History was made when Lewis hit a grand slam not only on August 27th but August 28th as well, becoming the first MLB rookie to hit a grand slam in back-to-back games. The 24-year-old third baseman has not just had a few lucky games but has a 2.0 WAR (Wins Above Replacement) and a slash line of .301/.348/.525 while also showing big-time pop at the plate with seven doubles and 12 home runs through 52 games this season.
As Lewis continues to show his potential throughout the league, it is not far-fetched to believe that if Lewis can stay healthy, he has the ability to become the next Twins superstar.
