Lewis' immense potential tantalizes Twins

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Royce Lewis sure knows how to pick his moments.

In his first game off the 60-day injured list, marking his 2023 debut, he crushed an opposite-field homer and tied the game with an RBI single with two outs in the ninth inning. In his ‘23 Target Field debut a few days later, he hit a late, game-tying homer against the Guardians.

He added a go-ahead RBI single in the ninth inning of the Twins’ eventual loss to the Rays at Tropicana Field on Wednesday -- and followed that with his first career four-hit game when the Twins snapped their season-long five-game losing streak with an extra-innings victory in Toronto on Friday.

“I think he likes being out there when it counts and in the big moments. [His performance is] not for himself but for his team,” manager Rocco Baldelli said. “That’s kind of who he is.”

Lewis’ offensive contributions haven’t been consistent since he returned on May 29 following his recovery from his second torn ACL. He’s still working to refine his approach at the plate and become more selective with his swings, as evidenced by his 11 strikeouts and no walks in 37 plate appearances. What he has done, though, is provide jolts in key moments -- and the Twins will gladly take that, because frankly, it was nearly impossible to put any expectations on his return.

Of course, it’s tough to keep expectations in check considering he was once the No. 1 overall pick and ranks as Minnesota's No. 2 prospect. The last time Twins fans saw him in his very limited big league stint in ‘22, he hit .300 with an .867 OPS.

But as Lewis navigates what everyone hopes will be a fruitful and healthy remaining season in the Majors, it’s worth keeping this in mind: The Twins are still learning about who he is as a player, too -- just like the rest of us.

As of Friday night, Lewis had only played 98 games above A-ball in his life, with the majority of his 2020, ‘21 and ‘22 seasons of development almost totally wiped out by the pandemic and the two torn ACLs. Most top prospects of Lewis’ caliber will have been carefully timed and progressed through the upper levels of the Minors and are known commodities -- with known strengths and weaknesses and some idea of what they’ll look like as big leaguers.

They just don’t have that luxury with Lewis, and his development will be finished in the Majors, with his team counting on him.

“An absolutely unique path to getting to this point,” Baldelli said. “Most players go down similar roads, and you know what they’ve done to get to this point. You have a pretty clear path and vision of who they were and where they’re going.

“We just know less about Royce [because of] the amount of time he’s played. He’s also learning more about himself, too, because now, he’s actually out there.”

As for any prospect, there will be ups and downs along the way, but even among top prospects, Lewis boasts superb mental and physical talent that could certainly make him the outlier in such an abrupt and unprecedented transition to the Majors.

And despite all the obstacles and the growth that remains, he’s still finding his way to make impacts in the biggest situations.

“It feels like he’s been around and part of the group for a very long time, but he hasn’t, because he’s been working his way back for much of the last few years,” Baldelli said. “So, I’m learning a lot every day. Our entire staff is learning a lot about him every day.”