Royce Lewis Day-to-Day With Shoulder Injury

[Cody Christie]

Royce Lewis’ difficult 2026 season took another frustrating turn on Sunday. The Minnesota Twins announced that Lewis exited Sunday’s 9-2 loss to the Cleveland Guardians after five innings because of left shoulder soreness. Lewis made a diving play to record the final out of the fourth inning at first base, and it appears that play caused the issue to flare up again.

Lewis remained in the game for the bottom of the fourth, where he flew out to right field in his final at-bat. Victor Caratini replaced Lewis at first base to begin the sixth inning.

Following the game, Twins manager Derek Shelton said Lewis aggravated the soreness during the defensive play that ended the fourth inning.

“Two pitches before he had the F9, I think he kind of tweaked it a little bit again,” Shelton said. “He’s day to day, and we’ll kind of see how he is tomorrow.”

The injury is another concern for a player who has struggled to find consistency throughout the 2026 season. Lewis has appeared in 114 games for Minnesota, hitting .230/.297/.391 (.6880 with 14 home runs and 53 RBI.

It has been a particularly challenging year for Lewis after the Twins gave him a reset in the minor leagues earlier this season. Minnesota sent Lewis to Triple-A in an effort to get him regular at-bats and allow him to work through some of the issues that had plagued him at the major-league level. The reset provided some reason for optimism, but Lewis has struggled to maintain any momentum since returning to Minnesota.

His recent stretch has been especially difficult. Lewis has hit just one home run since August 7, and over his last 131 plate appearances, he has slashed .228/.267/.317 for a .584 OPS. He has struck out 34 times during that span while drawing only seven walks.

Those numbers help put Sunday's injury into a larger context. Lewis was already trying to find his footing at the plate, and now the Twins will have to wait and see whether his shoulder soreness forces him to miss additional time.

For a player Minnesota once viewed as a potential cornerstone of its lineup, the 2026 season has been filled with more questions than answers. The Twins will hope Sunday's issue is minor and that Lewis can get back on the field quickly. For now, though, Lewis is officially day-to-day.

 

View full rumor

[Hawkeye Bean Counter]

The playoff odds we are effectively eliminated.  I see us having more lineups that appear to be relatively meaningly and do a soft tank the remaining of the year.   

[wesnewy]

try sabato for a couple of games?

[Riverbrian]

Because of roster construction. 

If Lewis can't go.

Either:

Bell will have to play 1B during the games he can't. 

or 

Clemens will have to slide to 1B leaving 2B to filled by Kriedler or the return of Keaschall to the IF. 

or

We give Ross some looks that will require someone departing the 26 man roster and whatever he does over those games will be ignored over the off-season anyway. 

[Whammy]

The SP for the Yankees on Tuesday and Wednesday are lefties. For God's sake just call up Sabato and let him play some first base against the lefties. 

[HarmonK03]

1 hour ago, Riverbrian said:

Because of roster construction. 

If Lewis can't go.

Either:

Bell will have to play 1B during the games he can't. 

or 

Clemens will have to slide to 1B leaving 2B to filled by Kriedler or the return of Keaschall to the IF. 

or

We give Ross some looks that will require someone departing the 26 man roster and whatever he does over those games will be ignored over the off-season anyway. 

It will be Caratini or they may go in search of Jackson.

[Riverbrian]

Oh Yeah... Our Catcher playing 1B. 

An option as well.