Royce

Lewis

Lewis has been unable to shake the injury bug throughout his professional career and heads back to the shelf after suffering a knee sprain during his final at-bat of Thursday’s series opener against the Tigers. The 26-year-old third baseman is hitting .222 (8-for-36) with two homers, eight RBI and two steals through 12 games. There’s no timetable for his return but the Twins are likely to handle the situation with an abundance of caution since Lewis underwent left knee surgery back in 2024.

Lewis suffered the injury during his final at-bat against the Tigers on Thursday. No word yet on how long the oft-injured slugger will be shelved for this time around. The Twins will need to make a bevy of roster moves prior to Saturday’s game with Cody Laweryson (forearm) also heading to the injured list.

Lewis looked like he was in some discomfort before a late infield single against the Tigers on Thursday, so we’re not completely surprised to see him get the day off. Tristan Gray is handling the duties at third base for the Twins today. Lewis is off to a .222/.378/.444 start with two homers in his first 45 plate appearances of 2026.

Lewis had a great day at the plate to lead the Twins to a win on Saturday. He took Kyle Bradish deep for a two-run blast to give the team the lead in the fifth inning, then drew a walk and stole second before scoring in the seventh. The home run and stolen base in this one put Lewis’s high fantasy ceiling on display if he can manage to stay healthy.

The HBP was a changeup in his first plate appearance and had nothing to do with his exit, which seemed to simply being a product of the Twins having little faith in him at the moment. Lewis hit just .133/.160/.289 this spring, and the Twins had him hitting eighth today even though they were facing a lefty. Lewis flew out in the second and then grounded into the double play after Victor Caratini walked to start the seventh. He was due to bat again with two outs, one on and the Twins down by one in the ninth, but Trevor Larnach was inserted into his place against Orioles closer Ryan Helsley. Larnach went on to strike out to end the game. Lewis figures to remain in the lineup most of the time for now, but if he fails to produce, he could be sent down, with the Twins potentially going with Kody Clemens against right-handers and calling up Eric Wagaman to help versus lefties.

Lewis went 2-for-2 with a homer in his first game this spring, but he has just one hit in 25 at-bats since. At least that one hit was also a homer. Lewis is certainly going to open up as an everyday player for the Twins, but his chances of returning to the top half of the lineup prior to Opening Day would seem to be about gone.

Lewis had been out since February 26th with oblique soreness, but he wasted no time in pushing the tempo on the field. Lewis has said that his goal this season is to have 700 plate appearances, but I’m sure fantasy managers and Twins fans would be OK with 450, which would be a career high. Lewis has the power and speed to be a major fantasy asset when he’s on the field, and he took steps this offseason to ensure his health, but he remains a major risk in fantasy drafts.

Lewis was scratched with tightness in his side Thursday, but the MRI on his oblique revealed all was good. The 26-year-old will be an everyday option as long as he can stay on the field in 2026.

Given Lewis’ extensive injury history, there was not a lot of optimism when he was scratched from Thursday’s lineup with side tightness. For now, it appears that the Twins have avoided a major injury.

Initially the Twins said that the move was made out of an abundance of caution, but since they sent him for imaging perhaps it’s a bit more serious than that. Given Lewis’ extensive injury history, there’s absolutely reason to be worried here. The Twins are expected to provide an update on his status on Friday after getting the results from that exam.