Royce Lewis has faced numerous questions since the day the Twins selected him No. 1 overall in 2017.

Can he meet the hype? Is he the future of the franchise? What did his 2019 struggles mean? What position will he play? How will he return from a torn ACL? What does the Carlos Correa signing mean for him? Is he still a worthy Top 100 prospect after two missed years?

Some of those questions are still to be determined, of course, but one thing is certain. Lewis is a Major Leaguer now. The Twins have called up MLB Pipeline’s No. 44 overall prospect Friday, following news that Carlos Correa is battling a right middle finger injury and Luis Arraez is headed to the COVID IL.

So here’s one more question:

What can fans expect?

For starters, the 22-year-old has certainly looked close to Major League-ready with the bat early this season with Triple-A St. Paul in his first foray into the Minors’ highest level. Lewis hit .310/.430/.563 with three homers over 24 games with the Saints. His 11 doubles in that span are tied for the most in the Minor Leagues, and his 15 total extra-base hits place him tied for fourth on the Triple-A leaderboard.

That’s a far cry from Lewis’.236/.290/.371 line over 127 games at High-A and Double-A during the aforementioned difficult year of 2019. He rebounded nicely in the Arizona Fall League that autumn, winning MVP honors with a .976 OPS in 21 contests, but that was in a much smaller sample. The pandemic limited Lewis to alternate-site looks behind closed doors in 2020, and before he could show just how far he’d come from his struggles, he suffered a torn ACL during 2021 Spring Training.

Looking at Lewis’ at-bats now, you might not guess that he’d missed so much time. Once known for a big leg kick that caused timing issues in the early days of his career, he seems to have moved toward more of a toe tap in his days with St. Paul. Fewer moving parts have meant fewer things needed to be in sync to make hard contact with the ball, and the proof is certainly in the pudding.

Lewis’ 18.7 percent strikeout rate is down three points from 2019, and considering he’s also walking 15.9 percent of the time (a career best for BB%), it appears he’s also seeing the ball well and honing in a previously aggressive approach at the plate. That will be tested against the more advanced arms of the Majors. Also, Lewis has talked about trying to provide some power to all fields as he’s gotten deeper into his career, but 56.7 percent of his batted balls have been pulled to this point in 2022, so that deserves following as well.

For as good as the bat has been, it might be even more encouraging to see Lewis keep his speed on the basepaths after such a major knee injury. The California native already has eight steals in nine attempts to begin the season, tied for sixth-most at Triple-A this season, proving that not only is the knee healed but his plus-plus wheels are back too.

That’s important from a defensive standpoint. Even when Lewis was at his healthiest, there were concerns that he might need to move around the diamond to find a true home. While he was plenty athletic, he still looked raw at shortstop, and the Twins got him looks at second, third and center in the Fall League in hopes that the speed and above-average arm could help him there. However, he’s only played short at St. Paul, despite the shadow Correa cast at the position, and that defensive consistency in 2022 now comes in handy with his call to The Show.

In case Lewis’ tools weren’t enough to bet on, his makeup, work ethic and drive have all received high marks from Twins officials and other evaluators throughout the highs and lows of his five-year pro career. Lewis talked of watching Twins games in 2021 trying to envision how he’d handle Major League pitchers, all while hitting the weight room trying to make the rest of his body stronger, perhaps leading to the uptick in extra-base hits this spring.

There will likely come a day when Lewis has to move defensively in deference to Correa once the All-Star shortstop’s finger is healed, and while he profiles nicely in center, well that’s where Byron Buxton calls home. Those are questions for another day.

When will Royce Lewis be a Major Leaguer?

Now. That’s one answer down.