Minnesota Twins' Royce Lewis Gets Back to His Roots

[Matthew Lenz]

The Twins' young star needed a winter of quiet to get off the rollercoaster that has been his career to this point, and find his way back to himself. He's in a new frame of mind this spring.

Image courtesy of © Brad Rempel-Imagn Images

Royce Lewis’s story has been one of extreme highs and extreme lows. From kicking off the 2024 campaign with a monstrous home run to dealing with injuries (as usual) and slumps (not so familiar), the 26-year-old has had quite the ride since being drafted in 2017. Now, as spring training gets underway, the Twins third baseman is feeling good after spending the offseason getting back to his roots.

“My intention [for the offseason] was just to get back to the roots of what I did when I was in high school when I was drafted,” Lewis said recently, in a scrum with reporters at Twins spring training in Fort Myers, Fla. “I feel fast, elusive, athletic, bouncy, all the things I want to feel.”

I'm not specifically targeting Lewis when I say this, but that's a shift from the traditional training mindset of working on skills related to a player’s bat and glove. Of course, theoretically, improving your athleticism should impact your ability to hit and play the field. Looking at the bigger picture, though, I think this represents a larger shift in mindset that points toward the former top pick taking the next step in his development. We know he has the skills to be successful, but focusing on his athleticism will help with maybe the most important skill: availability.

In eight professional seasons, Lewis has put together just three full campaigns (none since 2019). In 2022, he re-injured his surgically repaired right knee making a fantastic catch crashing into the center field fence. He returned exactly one year later, but would miss six more weeks due to an oblique strain in July of 2023. That's not to mention this awkward tumble.

Then, last season, it took all of three innings for Lewis to strain his quad and miss two months of the season. If there’s one commonality between all of these various injuries, it's that they’re largely related to the way he's moving his body, unrelated to baseball. One way to minimize these injuries is strength training, but another is to learn about and improve how your body moves.

“I’m really good at going zero to 60, but can I go 60 to zero … when I’m going through any movement pattern,” Lewis mused.

This quote stuck out to me, as I relived some of the aforementioned injuries. While it's unfair to blame him for going balls to the wall (literally), maybe he doesn't re-tear his ACL had he approached that center field wall with more finesse—something the Twins' actual center fielder took years to understand himself. Then we look at the awkward movement running the bases, from 2023 (above) and 2024 (below, an instance in which it's impossible to miss the value of better deceleration skills).

Whether or not this leads to 140 games played and a fully healthy season remains to be seen. What it does tell me, along with other comments regarding his daily routine, is that Lewis is turning the corner in his professional development. He’s starting to understand what it means to be a “pro” and, maybe ironically, it's led him back to his roots as an 18-year-old kid.

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What are your expectations for Royce Lewis this year? Join the conversation in the comments!

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[whitsbrain]

I was going to subscribe to Twins.tv as anticipation for the new season creeps in, but after reading the quote about Lewis questioning his "movement pattern", I'm holding off.  Seriously, he's talking about getting injured when slowing down.   I'm not a doctor but I've noticed that NFL, NHL and NBA players start and stop a lot more aggressively than MLB players do, WHILE other players are hammering on them.  It's almost like Lewis is expecting to be injured again and is setting us all up for it.  Twins and injuries...Get to know 'em!

[old nurse]

Doing the same thing again and expecting a different result

[bean5302]

I have no expectations for Royce Lewis this year. With the way his performance struggles hit for the last couple months and the injuries hobbled him up all year, I'll remain hopeful, but not expectant. It's clear Lewis was not happy with the organization towards the end of the year, and the clubhouse wasn't a fun place to be for him, either. On top of that, the Twins got him to agree to a contract well below his arbitration value expectation so I'm not sure how bitter things are these days. It's hard to focus and excel in an environment where you're miserable so I hopeful things have mended a bit.

He could be anything from a 1.0 WAR to 6.0 WAR guy. No idea.

[Parfigliano]

I'd just like him to be healthy for a whole season.

[Fatbat]

1 hour ago, whitsbrain said:

I was going to subscribe to Twins.tv as anticipation for the new season creeps in, but after reading the quote about Lewis questioning his "movement pattern", I'm holding off.  Seriously, he's talking about getting injured when slowing down.   I'm not a doctor but I've noticed that NFL, NHL and NBA players start and stop a lot more aggressively than MLB players do, WHILE other players are hammering on them.  It's almost like Lewis is expecting to be injured again and is setting us all up for it.  Twins and injuries...Get to know 'em!

Well he stopped quickly when he slipped on the ice and tore his acl #1  time & he stopped just as quickly when hitting the wall and tore his acl #2 time so there is that.  He also stopped playing immediately after tearing his quad.  Stopping can be painful. 

[Cory Engelhardt]

1 hour ago, whitsbrain said:

I was going to subscribe to Twins.tv as anticipation for the new season creeps in, but after reading the quote about Lewis questioning his "movement pattern", I'm holding off.  Seriously, he's talking about getting injured when slowing down.   I'm not a doctor but I've noticed that NFL, NHL and NBA players start and stop a lot more aggressively than MLB players do, WHILE other players are hammering on them.  It's almost like Lewis is expecting to be injured again and is setting us all up for it.  Twins and injuries...Get to know 'em!

Dad, what’s reading the comments section like in real life?

Well son, someone inevitably is going to say something to the effect of “I’m not a doctor, but” and then, well, you remember why reading comments isn’t a positive experience generally. So maybe don’t do it.

Thanks dad!

 

 

Good article! Thank you for sharing your writing :)

[HerbieFan]

Seems like as players have gotten bigger and. stronger.....they also get hurt more often.  Maybe if Royce allows himself to just be athletic again, rather than bulking up, he can stay healthier.

[Parfigliano]

5 minutes ago, HerbieFan said:

Seems like as players have gotten bigger and. stronger.....they also get hurt more often.  Maybe if Royce allows himself to just be athletic again, rather than bulking up, he can stay healthier.

Someone should remind Lewis he's playing 3B not strong side LB.

[Nashvilletwin]

I saw the headline and I thought for a second Royce got traded to the Angels…lucky guy. Alas, not the case.  Hope he’s healthy this year - he’s fun to watch and to cheer for.

[Doctor Gast]

You can expect to have soft-tissue injuries & run out of gas after coming off 2 ALC surgeries. As he becomes more conditioned through time we should see the real Royce Lewis. I imagine he knows his own body & what's best for it (along with professional help). IMO Correa, Buxton & Lewis are trending the right way & I expect to see better results on the field & look forward to cheering for them this season.

[Doctor Wu]

7 hours ago, HerbieFan said:

Seems like as players have gotten bigger and. stronger.....they also get hurt more often. 

I haven't checked the stats on that (then again, how do you accurately measure "bigger and stronger"?) but it certainly DOES seem like that's what's been happening in baseball in recent years. Not sure if they are happening more often, but the injuries do seem more severe in any case. Does "bulking up" help or hurt an athlete in regards to preventing injuries? I'm sure someone out there has some proper medical knowledge about this issue. 

[Matthew Lenz]

11 hours ago, whitsbrain said:

I was going to subscribe to Twins.tv as anticipation for the new season creeps in, but after reading the quote about Lewis questioning his "movement pattern", I'm holding off.  Seriously, he's talking about getting injured when slowing down.   I'm not a doctor but I've noticed that NFL, NHL and NBA players start and stop a lot more aggressively than MLB players do, WHILE other players are hammering on them.  It's almost like Lewis is expecting to be injured again and is setting us all up for it.  Twins and injuries...Get to know 'em!

This was wild to read at 7am. Cheers!

[Matthew Lenz]

1 hour ago, Doctor Wu said:

I haven't checked the stats on that (then again, how do you accurately measure "bigger and stronger"?) but it certainly DOES seem like that's what's been happening in baseball in recent years. Not sure if they are happening more often, but the injuries do seem more severe in any case. Does "bulking up" help or hurt an athlete in regards to preventing injuries? I'm sure someone out there has some proper medical knowledge about this issue. 

I agree I think the downside to "bigger, faster, stronger" is that it's harder on the body. Maybe helps prevent or mitigate smaller injuries but when injuries do occur they're typically more severe? Completely uneducated conjecture but it would make sense, IMO.

[Old Crow]

10 hours ago, Fatbat said:

Well he stopped quickly when he slipped on the ice and tore his acl #1  time & he stopped just as quickly when hitting the wall and tore his acl #2 time so there is that.  He also stopped playing immediately after tearing his quad.  Stopping can be painful. 

They always say it's not the fall that kills you it's the sudden stop.  

[arby58]

8 hours ago, Nashvilletwin said:

I saw the headline and I thought for a second Royce got traded to the Angels…lucky guy. Alas, not the case.  Hope he’s healthy this year - he’s fun to watch and to cheer for.

Nobody traded to the Angels is a lucky guy.

[arby58]

I think it's fair to say that if a Twins fan were asked to describe Royce Lewis and Byron Buxton in one word, it would be 'injuries.' Two words, 'talented, injuries.' Somebody already mentioned the definition of insanity (doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result). The yang to that yin is what you will find in any financial prospectus ('past performance is not an indicator of future results'). So who knows?

[Tovar12]

So sad that our three best players (Buxton, Lewis, Correa) are injured A LOT.   Fingers crossed that this year will be different.

[Nashvilletwin]

16 minutes ago, Tovar12 said:

So sad that our three best players (Buxton, Lewis, Correa) are injured A LOT.   Fingers crossed that this year will be different.

You are correct: “fingers crossed” says it all.  There is no reason to expect this season to be any different than the past, so we might as well cross our fingers. 

[Patzky]

9 hours ago, Nashvilletwin said:

I saw the headline and I thought for a second Royce got traded to the Angels…lucky guy. Alas, not the case.  Hope he’s healthy this year - he’s fun to watch and to cheer for.

They already Rendoned! They don't want to get Royced too.

[Nashvilletwin]

45 minutes ago, arby58 said:

Nobody traded to the Angels is a lucky guy.

At least he’d be close to home.  Besides, it’d be hard to believe the Angel’s organization could be any worse developing young major league talent than the Twins. He’d get to play with Trout too,

Nah, if Royce really wants to be a pretty big time star, he needs to get better and that likelihood probably increases in the grasp of another franchise.  I mean, Kepler (decent hitter and strong fielder who played one position every day) is probably our best internally developed position player success story over the past decade and Royce has to aspire to more than that. 

[Major League Ready]

30 minutes ago, Nashvilletwin said:

At least he’d be close to home.  Besides, it’d be hard to believe the Angel’s organization could be any worse developing young major league talent than the Twins. He’d get to play with Trout too,

Nah, if Royce really wants to be a pretty big time star, he needs to get better and that likelihood probably increases in the grasp of another franchise.  I mean, Kepler (decent hitter and strong fielder who played one position every day) is probably our best internally developed position player success story over the past decade and Royce has to aspire to more than that. 

I would look a little deeper if I were you.  Baseball America's Farm rankings have the Angels dead last and the Twins 8th.  These ranking are only part of the story.   The Twins have graduated several good young players in the past 3 years that will likely contribute for the next few years, including Festa and Matthews last year.   I also like the odds that Rodriquez and Keaschall contribute this season.   

[LambchoP]

Lewis' career has been one of extremes. We've seen a potential power hitting MVP type of player in short stints and we've seen the ultra injury prone, slump prone bust. I think this year will be important to prove he can stay healthy and show the team what kind of player he is. Keeping him at third base is a good move. Let him focus on health and consistency. A productive Lewis is a major boon for this team and lengthens the lineup significantly.

[Nashvilletwin]

9 minutes ago, Major League Ready said:

I would look a little deeper if I were you.  Baseball America's Farm rankings have the Angels dead last and the Twins 8th.  These ranking are only part of the story.   The Twins have graduated several good young players in the past 3 years that will likely contribute for the next few years, including Festa and Matthews last year.   I also like the odds that Rodriquez and Keaschall contribute this season.   

I specifically said position players.  And the best position players who have “graduated” are Steer and Rooker.  I guess you could say Arraez too.  For the record, I have the under on Rodriguez and Keaschall.  I hope I’m wrong.  

[jmlease1]

13 hours ago, bean5302 said:

I have no expectations for Royce Lewis this year. With the way his performance struggles hit for the last couple months and the injuries hobbled him up all year, I'll remain hopeful, but not expectant. It's clear Lewis was not happy with the organization towards the end of the year, and the clubhouse wasn't a fun place to be for him, either. On top of that, the Twins got him to agree to a contract well below his arbitration value expectation so I'm not sure how bitter things are these days. It's hard to focus and excel in an environment where you're miserable so I hopeful things have mended a bit.

He could be anything from a 1.0 WAR to 6.0 WAR guy. No idea.

You're reading in a lot here, aren't you? I think it's fair to say the end of the season was pretty miserable for Royce, but was he really mad at the organization or just frustrated and upset at his slump and inability to get out of it, having encountered actual failure at the plate for the first time in his career?

He agreed to the contract. If he was upset at the number, he could have gone to arbitration. If he thought that he truly was being low-balled, he almost certainly would have gone to arbitration. Players historically don't settle for a possibly lower number when they're unhappy with their situation.

Hopefully having a season where he required no off-season surgery and/or rehab will make a difference for him in staying on the field. (it seems reasonable?) I expect he'll have his smile back to start the season.

[TopGunn#22]

I'm very enthused to read this about Lewis. I agree 100% in the observation that as players have gotten bigger and stronger, in other words, have done more weight training than players from the 50's, 60's and 70's for example, they seem to have become more injury prone.  

That's not to say that Killebrew, Oliva and Carew NEVER got hurt.  Bu their injuries were a severely pulled hamstring in 1968 (Killebrew) and a couple of major knee injuries (Oliva & Carew).  They didn't have frequent muscle pulls like others do today.  

You can still be strong, and every player should strive to be stronger, but you cannot do so at the expense of losing FLEXIBILITY.  Staying flexible allows for a player's athleticism to manifest.  As Lewis got stronger he seemed to be overly bulked up.  Parfigliano succinctly remarked that Lewis isn't playing outside linebacker.  Being bulked up leads to greater strength, but also erodes flexibility, which makes movement stiff, not smooth.  

I believe a more flexible Lewis WILL be a more athletic Lewis.  He will also probably be carrying less weight as well, which is also a benefit.  Lewis is plenty strong enough to hit HR's.  I'd like to see him at the 60-rated speed he once had as well as the cannon for an arm he once had.  Carew did not lose his speed after his first big knee injury in 1970.  And having had Tommy John surgery shouldn't mean Lewis will have a noodle for an arm going forward.  Lewis had other issues that contributed to his throwing problems last year.  He SHOULD have a better arm than Brooks Lee when we compare their initial prospect grades.

This new approach hopefully sets Lewis up for better, more consistent health, as well as a more well rounded game, in the field, at the plate and on on the bases.  

[chpettit19]

18 minutes ago, jmlease1 said:

You're reading in a lot here, aren't you? I think it's fair to say the end of the season was pretty miserable for Royce, but was he really mad at the organization or just frustrated and upset at his slump and inability to get out of it, having encountered actual failure at the plate for the first time in his career?

He agreed to the contract. If he was upset at the number, he could have gone to arbitration. If he thought that he truly was being low-balled, he almost certainly would have gone to arbitration. Players historically don't settle for a possibly lower number when they're unhappy with their situation.

Hopefully having a season where he required no off-season surgery and/or rehab will make a difference for him in staying on the field. (it seems reasonable?) I expect he'll have his smile back to start the season.

They definitely don't agree to the number on the first day. If he really was so upset with the contract he would've negotiated all the way up until his arbitration date and not just signed the deal at the first opportunity. There's no reason at all to believe Royce is upset with his contract. (Well, beyond just the annoyance I think all players have with the system in general to some extent)

[Linus]

4 minutes ago, TopGunn#22 said:

I'm very enthused to read this about Lewis. I agree 100% in the observation that as players have gotten bigger and stronger, in other words, have done more weight training than players from the 50's, 60's and 70's for example, they seem to have become more injury prone.  

That's not to say that Killebrew, Oliva and Carew NEVER got hurt.  Bu their injuries were a severely pulled hamstring in 1968 (Killebrew) and a couple of major knee injuries (Oliva & Carew).  They didn't have frequent muscle pulls like others do today.  

You can still be strong, and every player should strive to be stronger, but you cannot do so at the expense of losing FLEXIBILITY.  Staying flexible allows for a player's athleticism to manifest.  As Lewis got stronger he seemed to be overly bulked up.  Parfigliano succinctly remarked that Lewis isn't playing outside linebacker.  Being bulked up leads to greater strength, but also erodes flexibility, which makes movement stiff, not smooth.  

I believe a more flexible Lewis WILL be a more athletic Lewis.  He will also probably be carrying less weight as well, which is also a benefit.  Lewis is plenty strong enough to hit HR's.  I'd like to see him at the 60-rated speed he once had as well as the cannon for an arm he once had.  Carew did not lose his speed after his first big knee injury in 1970.  And having had Tommy John surgery shouldn't mean Lewis will have a noodle for an arm going forward.  Lewis had other issues that contributed to his throwing problems last year.  He SHOULD have a better arm than Brooks Lee when we compare their initial prospect grades.

This new approach hopefully sets Lewis up for better, more consistent health, as well as a more well rounded game, in the field, at the plate and on on the bases.  

Lewis did not have Tommy John surgery.

[chpettit19]

25 minutes ago, TopGunn#22 said:

I'm very enthused to read this about Lewis. I agree 100% in the observation that as players have gotten bigger and stronger, in other words, have done more weight training than players from the 50's, 60's and 70's for example, they seem to have become more injury prone.  

That's not to say that Killebrew, Oliva and Carew NEVER got hurt.  Bu their injuries were a severely pulled hamstring in 1968 (Killebrew) and a couple of major knee injuries (Oliva & Carew).  They didn't have frequent muscle pulls like others do today.  

You can still be strong, and every player should strive to be stronger, but you cannot do so at the expense of losing FLEXIBILITY.  Staying flexible allows for a player's athleticism to manifest.  As Lewis got stronger he seemed to be overly bulked up.  Parfigliano succinctly remarked that Lewis isn't playing outside linebacker.  Being bulked up leads to greater strength, but also erodes flexibility, which makes movement stiff, not smooth.  

I believe a more flexible Lewis WILL be a more athletic Lewis.  He will also probably be carrying less weight as well, which is also a benefit.  Lewis is plenty strong enough to hit HR's.  I'd like to see him at the 60-rated speed he once had as well as the cannon for an arm he once had.  Carew did not lose his speed after his first big knee injury in 1970.  And having had Tommy John surgery shouldn't mean Lewis will have a noodle for an arm going forward.  Lewis had other issues that contributed to his throwing problems last year.  He SHOULD have a better arm than Brooks Lee when we compare their initial prospect grades.

This new approach hopefully sets Lewis up for better, more consistent health, as well as a more well rounded game, in the field, at the plate and on on the bases.  

I don't believe Lewis has ever had TJS and je does have a better arm than Brooks Lee. It's just not that accurate sometimes.

[AKTwinsFan]

Sometimes it's best to just take an out than try and push too hard and get injured. An out has you out that at bat, while an injury has you out for weeks or months.