Meet the Best-Kept Secret in the AL Central
Photo by Brace Hemmelgarn/Getty Images
The Minnesota Twins have been hovering around .500 nearly halfway into the season with a record of 39-38, but former #1 overall pick Royce Lewis is giving the organization and the fanbase a reason to be hopeful for the remainder of the season and the future.
As a junior in high school, Lewis was named the Los Angeles Times high school baseball player of the year. Later that summer, he was named the MVP of the Under Armour All-American Game and the Perfect Game All-American Classic. Lewis would then be selected first overall in the 2017 MLB Draft by the Twins out of Jserra Catholic High School in San Juan Capistrano, California as a shortstop who could also play center field and third base.
It didn’t take long for Lewis to experience success in the minors. In 2019, Lewis won the MVP for the Arizona Fall League with a league-leading 30 hits and a slash line of .353/.411/.565 over 22 games. Lewis joined an elite company of former AFL MVP winners, some of whom include Ronald Acuna Jr (2017), Gleyber Torres (2016), Kris Bryant (2013), and Nolan Arenado (2010).
For two years, Lewis did not play in a game; the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 caused the cancellation of the minor league season, and a Torn ACL in 2021 kept him off the field. In 2022, Lewis made his major league debut on May 6. A week later, Lewis hit his first career home run, a grand slam, and became the second player in Twins history to do so. Lewis’ comeback story was barely underway before he crashed into the center field wall on May 29 and tore the same ACL, effectively ending his season.
Determined to make it back to the majors, Lewis shot through the minors post-recovery and surgery. Exactly a year from his horrific injury, Lewis earned a spot in the starting lineup at third base against the Astros on May 29, 2023. Lewis went 2-5 in his return and hit a three-run bomb to right to propel the team to a 7-5 win.
Since his return to the majors, Lewis has been on fire for the Twins. Lewis, 24, is slashing .319/.338/.478 through 69 at-bats this season. In the last 30 days, Lewis is slashing .400/.429/.500. Lewis’ strength at the plate this year has come early in the count. In 0-0 counts this year, Lewis is batting .714 and in 0-1 counts .545. In his career, he has compiled a .312/.330/.505 line.
Yesterday against the Detroit Tigers, Lewis launched a 404-foot solo shot to left to establish a 1-0 lead. The Twins would not look back, winning the game 4-1 and pulling ahead of the Cleveland Guardians in the AL Central by two games.
Lewis, 24, is still eligible for prospect status and ranks #31 in MLB.com’s Top-100 Prospect Rankings. The sample size is small, but Lewis’ star potential is undeniable. If he can stay healthy and, on the field, Lewis has the ability to be an All-Star caliber player for the Twins and provide the push they need to win their first postseason game since 2004.
