2:28PM: In an unfortunate turn of events for Lewis, he had to leave today’s game with what the Twins described as right knee soreness. Lewis made a tremendous catch of an Emmanuel Rivera fly ball in the third inning but awkwardly collided with the outfield wall in the process. The Twins removed Lewis from the game an inning later, and he is currently undergoing more tests. A right knee injury is particularly ominous, as Lewis missed the entire 2021 season due to a torn ACL.
11:51AM: The Twins announced that star prospect Royce Lewis has been called up from Triple-A St. Paul for another taste of the big leagues. Infielder Jose Miranda was optioned to Triple-A in the corresponding move.
When Carlos Correa was on the 10-day injured list earlier this season, Lewis received his first MLB promotion and started 11 games at shortstop in Correa’s absence. Lewis made the most of his opportunity, hitting .308/.325/.564 with two home runs over 40 plate appearances, and flashing some of the potential that made him the first overall pick of the 2017 draft.
With Correa holding down everyday shortstop duty, Lewis told The Athletic’s Dan Hayes and other reporters today that he has four different gloves with him, indicating the 22-year-old’s readiness to play all over the diamond. At St. Paul this season, Lewis has seen action at third base, left field, and center field in addition to his usual shortstop duties, and Lewis also played a little second base earlier in his minor league career.
Lewis is in today’s starting lineup as a center fielder, with Byron Buxton getting a partial rest day as the DH. Having Lewis occasionally fill in center field would be a logical way to keep the oft-injured Buxton fresh, and the right-handed hitting Lewis could also complement left-handed hitting left fielder Trevor Larnach. There figures to be enough playing time available for Lewis in the majors, since obviously the Twins wouldn’t have interrupted his development at Triple-A just to park Lewis on the bench.
Miranda is a notable prospect in his own right, as his breakout 2021 minor league season earned him some top-100 prospect attention heading into 2022. Minnesota promoted Miranda for his debut in the Show earlier this month, though he hit only .164/.200/.284 in 70 PA.
Interesting, wonder if there is a Kirilloff:Kepler follow up move here then
I was always a touch skeptical of Miranda, because his breakout seemed tied to swing decisions and pitch recognition, which becomes a big step harder against major league pitching
Like this move, give Kirilloff a little more time to try get in a groove
No news on Kepler?
Glad to see Lewis back up. Kinda strange that they waited until Miranda starting hitting to send him down. Seems bad timing if you ask me. Last 7 games he is hitting .316 with an OPS of .824!
Supposedly Max felt much better this morning.
I know it is easy to say in hindsight but my first reaction to seeing him listed in CF today was ‘are you kidding me?’. Think he played a total of one game in CF during his demotion
The Twins set themselves up for this one
Yup. Hopefully he’s ok, but the Twins creates this situation.
Am repeating myself but this is going on all around MLB and I can’t watch anymore…..
A few nights ago the Pirates moved their 2B in the middle of the game to take over at 1B to get a hitter into play 2B. I didn’t know he could play 1B. With a runner on he went to take a throw on a ground ball. The throw beat the runner, but the guy now playing 1B was standing 8-10 inches behind the bag. The batter ran around him to stop from being injured after tagging the base. The next batter up for the Padres hit a 3-run HR to tie the game.
This is supposed to be major league baseball. Teams throughout MLB are playing guys out of position for expediency sake, often at positions they aren’t skilled to play at a top level. Apparently we’ve now gotten to the point with FO’s where they’re playing rotisserie league for real. Today Lewis got hurt. I’ve seen numerous plays this year where baserunners either had to avoid collisions or were able to minimize collisions because unskilled guys were playing 1B with their foot on the middle of the bad instead of positioning themselves with their foot / toe touching the side of the base (not to mention players being put at different positions that they can’t make routine plays at).
No problem – next the Commissioner can institute a Help rule that says any 1B with his foot within 6 inches of the bag is considered on the bag, while patting himself on the back for stopping what could be injuries to players. Then perhaps he could put electronic warning gadgets in OF’s baseball caps that will alert them when they’re approaching a wall….better still, give out a contract to a company that can provide a lightweight anti-magnetic device that will repel an OF from running into a wall after a fly ball. People watching replays in New York can make a ruling on whether the ball would have been caught or not, and award the appropriate number of bases to the batter and any runners if it was determined that the ball would have been a hit.
Huh?
Like who needs skills, man? Just because a guy is being paid hundreds of thousands and possibly millions of dollars doesn’t mean he needs to be able to do his job. Fits right into the ridiculous extra inning stuff. It’s a whole new age – just give it out, who needs to earn it?
In 3 years in the minors – 2017 to 2019 – this young man played 6 games in the OF. In 2020 and 2021 he didn’t play minor league ball. This year – 2022 – he played 3 games in the OF. Now he’s skilled enough to play CF at the major league level.
Amazing.
The Twins FO mentality is that of the 14 year-old posters here (and some of the writers).
Well, that was quick.
The move they should have made in the first place
If the Twins need an outfielder, Duvall is available.
Sheesh. Before I could even get him off my fantasy IL.
But in all seriousness, I hope the young man is okay and it’s just a bruise or something of that nature
Okay it’s just a bruise, thank goodness
The Twins future looks bright. The Royals and INDIANS teams are beginning to form too.
The Sox (Manager) and Tigers (All Hype) are already in decline.