Tristan

Gray

Gray’s fourth homer of the year, hit 384 feet to right, was also his second grand slam. He’s 12th on the Twins with 108 plate appearances but fifth with his 23 RBI. The 30-year-old is hitting .237/.290/.392 while functioning as the Twins’ starting shortstop of late. Some would prefer Kaelen Culpepper in that role right now, but Gray’s trying to prove that there’s no reason for a switch.

Gray was away from the team for the weekend while helping take care of something bigger than baseball. The 30-year-old is up with Gabriel Gonzalez heading back to Triple-A St. Paul to make room.

Congratulations to Tristan and his growing family. The infielder will miss up to three days, and likely return at the start of next week.

That means the team will need to promote someone from Triple-A St. Paul to take his place for the team’s weekend series against the Red Sox. It’s unlikely that they’ll want to bring back Royce Lewis so soon after his demotion, so it’s possible that Gabriel Gonzalez could get a cup of coffee with the big league club.

Just a week after optioning Matt Wallner to the minors, the Twins will do the same with Lewis. The 26-year-old is hitting .163/.261/.279 in 119 plate appearances with three home runs, 13 RBI, and three steals. That also comes with a 31 percent strikeout rate. Lewis has plenty of promise, but the 26-year-old has failed to produce consistently or stay healthy at the MLB level. Tristan Gray started at third base on Monday and could get a chance to fill that role regularly.

Lewis started each of the first two games of the week following a return from the injured list, so he’ll get a breather on Thursday as the Twins attempt to ease him back into action. Tristan Gray will start in his place at the hot corner and will bat ninth for the Twins against Mets’ rookie right-hander Christian Scott.

Gray took advantage of a wholly ineffective Max Scherzer and blasted a three-run bomb off Scherzer for his second homer of the season. The 30-year-old has done a nice job as a fill-in to open the season with a .273/.346/.591 slash over 22 at-bats.

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.

Gray debuted with the Rays 2023 and returned to the organization last year after spending 2024 elsewhere. The Red Sox acquired him over the winter, but they traded him to the Twins in January when they realized they wouldn’t be able to sneak him through waivers. He’s 4-for-11 with eight RBI as Brooke Lee’s backup at shortstop this season, and though he hardly projects as a long-term regular, it’s worth wondering if he might be a better player than Lee against right-handers right now. It probably won’t matter much for fantasy purposes either way.

This is the third time Lee has been out of the lineup in seven games. The 25-year-old is hitting just .154/.214/.154 in 14 early-season plate appearances. Tristan Gray is drawing the start at shortstop. Given that Lee is batting ninth even when he is playing, it feels like fantasy managers can’t even trust Lee as an AL-only league accumulator at this point.