After a Brutal Start to 2026, Royce Lewis Suddenly Can't Stop Hitting

[Sam Caulder]

Image courtesy of © Bruce Kluckhohn-Imagn Images

For the past several seasons, Royce Lewis has been one of the most frustrating players in all of baseball. And unfortunately, there are multiple reasons why. Since 2021, Lewis has been plagued by lower-body injuries, including multiple ACL tears that have cost him significant chunks of development time. Every time it seems like he's gaining momentum, another setback happens. While the flashes of superstar potential have always been there, the consistency hasn't been.

When a player misses that much time during crucial developmental years, it's hard not to wonder what could have been. Those injuries haven't just kept Lewis off the field. They've also made it difficult for him to establish rhythm, make adjustments, and build on previous success. As a result, his performance at the major-league level has been a roller coaster.

That frustration reached a new level during the first two months of the 2026 season. Through May 17, Lewis was hitting just .163 with a .261 on-base percentage and a 53 wRC+. He wasn't just struggling; he was producing runs roughly half as well as an average major-league hitter. Eventually, the Twins decided something needed to change. Lewis was optioned to Triple-A, in hopes that he could reset both mechanically and mentally. While some viewed the move as a concerning development for a former No. 1 overall pick, it may end up being one of the most important decisions the organization has made all season.

Once Lewis arrived in Triple-A, he immediately caught fire. Over a 13-game stretch, he hit .340 and launched eight home runs, reminding everyone exactly what he’s capable of. That hot streak earned him a quick return to the major leagues. And since being recalled on June 6, Lewis has looked like a completely different hitter. In a small sample of 33 plate appearances, he's hitting .379 with a .424 on-base percentage, five extra-base hits, and a stolen base. More importantly, the quality of his at-bats has looked dramatically different.

The biggest difference? He's making contact. Before his demotion, He was striking out 31% of the time. Since returning, that number has plummeted to 13%. That's an enormous shift for any hitter, especially one who looked completely lost just a few weeks ago.

So what's changed? For starters, it appears Lewis made a notable mechanical adjustment to his swing. While he's always had a small leg kick when he plants his front leg, that leg kick is now much larger.

Leg kicks are a funny thing in baseball. Some hitters will have one, but abandon it to simplify their mechanics. Some hitters add one to help with timing and explosion. If the early results are any indication, that extra leg kick is working for Lewis. He's been a much more powerful hitter while remaining on time, and the swing data backs it up.

Before being sent down, Lewis was averaging 73.8 mph of bat speed. That's not necessarily a bad number, but since being recalled, it's gotten even faster. Lewis is now averaging 76 mph of bat speed, a mark that's among the best of all major-league hitters. A bigger leg kick means more sheer force transferred into his front side, without necessarily losing control of his stroke.

Not only is he swinging the bat faster, but the improved bat speed is translating into better results across the board. He's hitting the ball harder, he's making significantly more contact (which is likely a result of just trusting his swing more), and he looks much more like the version of Royce Lewis that Twins fans fell in love with a few years ago.

But the changes don't stop there. In addition to swinging a faster bat, there appears to be a clear shift in what Lewis is trying to accomplish at the plate. One of the most telling indicators is his pulled fly-ball rate. Before his demotion, just 19.1% of the balls he put in play were in the air to his pull side. That's not a terrible number by any means, but pulled fly balls are one of the easiest ways for hitters to generate extra-base power. For a player with Lewis's strength and bat speed, you'd like to see that number a little higher.

Since returning to the majors, that number has jumped. Over the past week and a half, his pulled fly-ball rate is up to 27%, which currently is in the 97th percentile of all major-league hitters. That may not sound like a huge gap on the surface, but it's a substantial adjustment in approach. It’s allowing his raw power to play up in games. As a result, his barrel rate has surged as well, and the overall quality of contact has taken a significant step forward. It genuinely feels like Lewis's swing has leveled up since returning from Triple-A.

Now, it's important to remember that we're still talking about a very small sample size. Pitchers will make adjustments, and Lewis will inevitably cool off at some point. That's just how baseball works. The higher leg kick has helped him catch the ball with his barrel more often when he's been on time; here's the timing distributions for him by month for swings on which he's on time. Since his recall, he lines up the ball better on those swings, which is why we're seeing that pulled fly-ball contact.

What this doesn't show you, though, is that Lewis is still early very often—in fact, a hair more so than before he went down. He's on time for the fastball, but still early on other stuff. Pitchers will start forcing him to sit back a bit more again, and he'll have to adapt.

But even if the production regresses, the underlying changes are encouraging. The bat speed is up, the contact rate is up, and the quality of contact is up. But perhaps most importantly, his confidence appears to be back. Lewis looks like a different player right now, and when he's in a groove, he legitimately looks like one of the best hitters in the league. We've seen flashes of that before, where he looks capable of carrying an offense all by himself.

The challenge has always been finding a way to sustain it. For now, though, Twins fans should enjoy what they're watching. Because this version of Royce Lewis is the player everyone has been waiting for. Let's hope he's here to stay, because my gosh, is this fun to watch.

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[Possumlad]

Great article! Here's hoping Royce sticks w/ the current mechanics. That leg kick's come & gone quite a few times during his tenure... it's working, stick with it! 

[Blyleven2011]

It's amazing the few games in AAA and to see such a change in MLB baseball , I for one thought the demotion should of been longer and it was to early to bring him back , but I guess he got the message really fast  ...

His patience is better , selection on pitches , besides the front leg kick helping I also heard something about that rear leg shuffling backwards for timing purposes  ...

It's great to see him producing and helping the team ...

[jkcarew]

I don’t necessarily focus on the HR’s when it comes to Lewis. First and foremost, he needs to hit the ball hard with way more consistency than he was. He’ll hit HR’s, but let’s have more singles and doubles between the HR’s. He was putting way too many balls in play with soft contact…mainly to the pull side. To me, it had a lot to do with him refusing to give in in certain situations and take what the pitcher was giving him. If he wants to pull everything…fine,…Buxton pulls balls on the outer half with pretty consistent hard contact, even fastballs that are well out in the outer half of the zone. But it’s a pretty unique ability, without making yourself vulnerable inside…and don’t know if that’s sustainable for Lewis. Having said that, if he can at least eliminate those attempts on pitches that are OFF the plate outside, there could be real improvement. Too early for me to say he’s fixed, but the recent results are sure good to see.

[Permanent Twins Fan]

Small sample size, but it is really encouraging to see Royce performing like he has since being called up. 

[weitz41]

Enjoyed the article! It's something to be excited about.

BUT, it feels like it's the top of 7th inning and you just called out the fact that the home teams' pitcher has a no hitter to this point. One of those DON'T jinx it times...

[Linus]

Run him out there nearly every day and see what we have at the end of the season - hopefully Royce makes it easy on the FO by being adequate in the field and a plus or better hitter. If not,they have to have the nads to move on from him. 

[Rod Carews Birthday]

Slow down a little folks.  We've seen torrid hot streaks from Royce Lewis several times before.  Unfortunately they are followed by periods where he is almost unplayable.  I'm hoping the "recovery" is for real this time, but I don't think it's time to go out and buy the Royce jersey yet.  Let's see what he does for the rest of the season.  

[ashbury]

3 hours ago, jkcarew said:

I don’t necessarily focus on the HR’s when it comes to Lewis. First and foremost, he needs to hit the ball hard with way more consistency than he was. He’ll hit HR’s, but let’s have more singles and doubles between the HR’s. 

???

Are we talking about the time since he's been back from AAA?  I'm not too inclined to keep harping on his performance before the demotion.

Through his game yesterday, he's had 8 games totaling 33 plate appearances.  There's been 11 hits, for a .379 batting average.  3 of those hits are home runs, which would  pro-rate to around 60 for a full season, and maybe that's high.  (I don't believe it's crazy-talk to think he's capable of 40-HR per season power going forward.)  But that means he's had 8 other base hits, two for doubles, so that's 6 singles.  Elsewhere among the results, 3 walks, 1 sac fly, and 4 strikeouts; nothing too out of whack with those.  As for "luck", the BABIP is .348 which is above league average but not grotesquely so. 

He needs to keep this up, but if the HR rate and BABIP decrease slightly to a more sustainable level, he's still a good candidate to continue at an .800+ OPS for the rest of the season (as opposed to the recent 1.183 that no one will try to defend as sustainable). 

At AAA of course the flyballs were flying out of the park at a totally unsustainable rate.  But without the homers his BABIP was a little low at .270 so it's possible that a few of the other balls in play actually operated in opposite luck*.

This sunny outlook very much remains to be seen, and it's small sample territory, but so far there's absolutely no reason to think he's not hitting the ball "hard with way more consistency than he was."  At least in terms of results.  The singles and doubles you are looking for are there.

 

* I often feel compelled to state that I don't believe in luck in baseball - thus the use of quote marks on the first usage - and view it merely as unsustainable in the context of athletes competing against other highly skilled athletes who are all trying their utmost.

[rv78]

The bigger question about Lewis is......

Why does it take a trip to St.Paul to get an adjustment? Going forward, when he is out of options and needs an adjustment I guess they just fake an injury so he can do a rehab stint in St.Paul. Seriously questioning the hitting coaches at the major league level if it takes a demotion to get results.

[DocBauer]

Good, bad, right or wrong, Lewis appears to be an emotional player.  For whatever reason, he really lost all confidence. He seems to allow bad streaks to affect him. The confidence lessens, and suddenly he's frustrated and things snowball. Now, I think some mechanical issues were also probably part of his poor performance and frustration as well, it wasn't all "bad luck" or a mental approach issue.

Going going not only provided him a mental reset, but also a mechanical one. There's little doubt he's on a hot streak and will come down to earth a bit. But I think most of us can agree that the talent is still there to be a good player. His body has changed, and there have been injuries that have affected him, but talent doesn't just disappear, even with some physical changes. (I.e. he's not as nimble or fast as he was as a young prospect, but he's grown bigger and stronger). 

**FWIW, a small consideration concerning his future, last season and this season, currently, he's been as healthy as he's ever been at the ML level. Is that a key/clue to his future performance?

I DON'T want to get hyperbolic here, but even with some natural regression from Lewis, I have to ask: "is it possible the INF is starting to take shape"?

Seriously. Lee seems much better at 3B. While his BAT still isn't where anyone wants it, and he's been streaky, he's still shown improvement. Lewis is settling in as a 1B, can also cover 3B and 2B if needed. And while it's really easy to dismiss what Clemens has been doing, the truth is his 2 best ML seasons have been with the Twins in 2025, and even better in 2026. Again, I don't want to give in to hyperbole, but is it POSSIBLE he's a late bloomer who REALLY took a next step due to not only late development but also opportunity??

SOMETIME SOON K-Pepper is going to be brought up to play SS. Not saying he's going to be a STUD from DAY ONE, but he's a TOP 50 prospect for a reason. He STABALISES SS offensively and defensively.

I'm not going in to another debate about Keaschall still developing and needing time to see how he develops, but the offense has started to come around.

So WHEN K-Pepper is up, we've got the still young and improving Lee at 3B, KC at SS, Keaschall at 2B, and 1B covered by Clemens and Lewis, BOTH who have the ability to also play other positions. Kreidler has SURPRISED with his bat so far, and Gray has come through in big moments. But perhaps Kreidler's glove and versatility makes him the right choice to keep when KC comes up? 

It's not inconceivable that the best option for super utility INF for 2027 might just be the emergence of Ross, currently at AAA. He might be the best version of Kreidler and Gray combined. But he's still got some things to prove.

But if Lewis has indeed turned a corner...maybe finally understanding he HAS the talent, but it's up to HIM to be positive and OWN his future...we really might be looking at a semi COMPLETE INF going forward really soon. OBVIOUSLY, K-Pepper isn't here YET. But don't you have to be kinda excited about Lee, K-Pepper, Keaschall, Lewis and Clemens and Kreidler/Gray/Ross completing this INF?