Royce’s return: Could this be a turning point for the Twins?
On May 29 Twins top prospect and former #1 overall pick Royce Lewis played in his first Major League game exactly one year to the day after his second ACL tear. Lewis return from the IL was anticipated for a number of reasons; 1) because of his status as one of if not the top Twins prospects over the past 5 years, 2) In his short stint with the Twins last year he was nothing short of excellent slashing .303/.317/.550 in 23 games in 2022, 3) the Twins offense has been scuffling for all of May and most of the season, which is why despite having one of the best pitching staffs in baseball the Twins were just one game above .500 on May 29. So naturally it is easy to look at your potential star shortstop prospect who’s hitting .333/.371/.727 and think that he’s the savior of a struggling lineup.
Get Cj Wrzesien’s stories in your inbox
Join Medium for free to get updates from this writer.
Is this a fair assessment or a fair expectation for one player especially a 23 year old with 23 games of Major league experience who is recovering from his second knee surgery? No, of course not, but Lewis did not shy away from those lofty expectation’s in his 2023 season debut against the Houston Astros. Batting 5th and playing 3rd base along side Carlos Correa at short was a welcome sight to see and one that Twins fans should get very used to seeing. After flying out in his first at bat of the game, Lewis came up big in the third inning with a 3-run home run to give the Twins a 3–0 lead.
The Twins would eventually go up 4–1 looking to cruise to a victory over one of the best teams in the American League. In the bottom of the seventh though Brock Stewart would come in with two runners on and would eventually load the bases and give up a go ahead grand slam to Astros second baseman Jose Altuve. This was looking like an all too familiar tough one run loss for the Twins in which they had a chance to win but didn’t do enough to close the door. When a Kyle Farmer single and Alex Kirilloff walk set the stage for Royce Lewis to come up big in the ninth. Lewis would come up with the game tying single against one of baseball’s best closers in Ryan Pressley.
The Twins would eventually take the lead in the tenth on a Ryan Jeffers two run home run that gave them a 7–5 lead, and Jhoan Duran would close the game in the bottom of the inning to complete the win. This was a big win for the Twins a game they were leading late and looked like they might let slip away, a sight that was all to common on their previous roadtrip where they went 2–4 despite having the lead in almost every game. In this game though the Twins were able to rally late, tie the game, take the lead and then close the door and Royce Lewis was the centerpiece of this win providing the spark that this team lacked in previous games.
This game could be just what the Twins need to finally get on a roll and take control of a weak A.L Central. That being said is Royce the savior of this team? No, the Twins still need the other bats in the lineup to come around and start producing on a more consistent basis and the bullpen also needs to find a similar level of consistency, but Lewis does provide a spark that this lineup was desperately lacking and occupies one more spot in the lineup that isn’t being filled by a role player like a Donovan Solano or Willi Castro type.
I do think this is the type of win that we could look back on and say this is where the season turned around though and there is no doubt that Royce Lewis is the reason we are able to potentially say that. Only time will tell if that is indeed the case though.
