Royce Lewis homered and doubled in last night’s loss to the A’s, boosting his slash line through his first 11 big league games to .308/.325/.564 — but the Twins nevertheless optioned him to Triple-A St. Paul last night in order to pave the way for Carlos Correa’s activation from the 10-day injured list, manager Rocco Baldelli announced after the game (link via Dan Hayes of The Athletic). Baldelli naturally acknowledged that Lewis had made the decision “difficult” with his play and suggested that the Twins will use this run in Triple-A to “move [Lewis] around the field” and “get him a little bit of exposure at some different spots.”
Lewis’ glovework at shortstop has long been a question among scouts, with some viewing a move to the outfield as an eventual necessity. The 22-year-old made a pair of errors in his 99 innings at shortstop but also made several highlight-reel plays in his tiny sample of work. The Twins very likely still view him as a shortstop in the long run, but Correa is arguably the game’s best defender at the position, so Lewis will use a potentially brief run through Triple-A to get his feet wet at other positions while also further honing his skills at short.
Lewis does have some limited experience at other positions but has played exclusively at shortstop in 2022 — his first season of game action since way back in 2019. The 2020 season was lost for all minor leaguers, and Lewis missed the 2021 campaign due to a torn ACL. He logged a dozen games at third base, five in center field and four at second base during the 2019 Arizona Fall League, but he’s never played a position other than shortstop outside that AFL run. That Lewis was able to hit the ground running both in Triple-A and in the Majors after what amounts to more than two years away from game activity is a testament to the upside and talent that prompted Minnesota to select him with the No. 1 overall pick back in 2017.
It’s still undoubtedly a deflating move for Lewis and for Twins fans, even if the move is short-term in nature. Correa, however, will return to the lineup and give the club a premier defensive player and overall MVP-caliber talent whose bat had begun to heat up just prior to the hit-by-pitch that ultimately landed him on the 10-day IL. The 27-year-old is hitting .255/.320/.372 overall but raked at a .412/.444/.588 pace in the nine games preceding his injury.
As for where Lewis will slot in when he does return, the Twins will have multiple options. First base has been the biggest hole in their lineup, with both Miguel Sano and prospect Jose Miranda floundering at the plate. Utilityman Luis Arraez has begun to slot in at first base with more regularity, however, and the Twins surely still have hope that outfielder/first baseman Alex Kirilloff — like Lewis, a longtime top prospect both in the system and in the league as a whole — will right the ship in Triple-A and be able to play a larger role there.
Across the diamond, third base could be a more viable fit. Gio Urshela has made some strong defensive plays but ranks about average with the glove according to most public metrics. He’s also hitting just .226/.280/.330 in 118 trips to the plate — production (or lack thereof) that would eventually jeopardize his place in the lineup even if he were producing outstanding numbers on the defensive side of the coin. Minnesota left fielders, meanwhile, are hitting .236/.294/.341 on the season, due in large part to Kirilloff’s struggles prior to his wrist injury and to Nick Gordon’s tepid .250/.292/.309 output (most of which has come while playing left field).
Being uncertain where they’ll ultimately slot Lewis back into the mix is the quintessential “good problem to have” for a team. It’ll be worth keeping a keen eye on just where Lewis is lining up across the river in St. Paul, as that could foreshadow some other decisions pertaining to the big league roster. Lewis will technically need to remain with the Saints for at least 10 days now that he’s been optioned, although the Twins can easily get around that minimum by recalling Lewis as the corresponding move for an injury if they see fit.
Can’t imagine service time considerations came into play. Not that.
His initial call-up already came late enough into the season that it was impossible for him to get a full year of service (barring a Rookie of the Year win, I suppose). If service were a factor, they wouldn’t have called him up in the first place.
Under the new CBA, the 1st and 2nd place ROY finishers automatically get a full year of service time. This is the Twins intentionally derailing Lewis’ shot at ROY.
Of course it’s a service time thing.
Every youngster that is sent down to the minors is because of the evil billionaire owners attempting to enslave their chattel for another year.
They’re using the fact that they signed a free agent and are paying him $35m a year to play the position to justify their underhanded actions.
So the operating theory here is that the Twins recalled Lewis, hoping for him to be a lukewarm body who’d serve as a stopgap while Correa mended, and then panicked because their longtime top prospect and former No. 1 pick actually backed up his hot start in AAA?
I disagree with their decision to option him, but the notion that they’re suddenly worried about him gaining a year of service based on ROY voting doesn’t make sense. If ROY voting were a concern, they’d just have played Gordon or Urshela at short and kept Lewis in the minors to begin with.
Youngsters who are hitting .308/.325/.564 in a lineup that has holes that need to be filled should not be sent down.
I see. So who do they sit down until ML pitchers see enough of him to figure out how to pitch him……
Arraez? Polanco? Urshela? DH him and sit down Buxton?
He isn’t passing Peña for rookie of the year anyway. Peña is already approaching 2 WAR
With nearly 130 games left, and Peña likely showing some regression (unless the belief is he’s a near 10 win player), then there is plenty of time for players to make moves in one direction or another in the ROY race. Julio Rodriquez, for example, is slashing .338/.392/.471 since late April after a brutal start, and seems to be a strong candidate to lead the league in steals. He could narrow the gap and have the narrative eventually. It looks, however, that Lewis will be extremely limited in his chances!
Buxton needs plenty of rest days and yes absolutely play Lewis over Urshela or Gordon have you watched a twins game this year??? There is plenty of opportunity for Royce to play everyday
But you only have so many roster spots and the kid has options the other would have to be DFAd.
I understand what you’re saying and I agree that the players shouldn’t have their service time manipulated by greedy billionaires but, comparing someone who makes more money per year than the average American will make in 20 years to a chattle slave. Not really a good comparison.
Very tough call to send him down. However I agree with it for the fact that getting him reps at other positions is huge and the minors are the place for it. Twins are in first in ALC and have guys that don’t need on the job training to play the other positions. Hard to see him sent down but I like that they didn’t throw him in the fire in the bigs. I think this helps in the long term.
Have to agree. Attendance is woefully down for the Twins.
This is a clear sign that the twins are not going to entertain the idea of signing Correa long term. They view Lewis as their short stop of the future, otherwise he would have stayed up and slide over to third (regardless if he had experience there or not).
Lewis being sent down is so he can continue to get consistent reps at short stop, not so he can learn other positions. Lewis will be back up later in the season at some point but right now the twins are focusing on his continued development as a short stop.
Ironically the Twins have a more likely ROY candidate on their roster, Joe Ryan. Also Jeremy Peña and Julio Rodriguez (he’s heating up) are more likely.
Sure the optics aren’t great from a fan perspective, but you’ve got a $35M shortstop who needs his spot back and a young star who’s waiting in the wings. I bet you Correa’s $35 mill that the Twins are praying Correa opts out.
dirkg;
The league had not seen Lewis and didn’t have a book on how to pitch him. Lewis had 39 AB’s.
Look at some of the Guardians young position players and how they hit their first 40 AB’s – Kwan, Miller, Clement; even Straw and Mercado that changed their approach with the new hitting coach. Look at what they’re averages are 2 weeks later.
Good point, thanks. I’d throw something else into the mix: If you aren’t going to use him close to full time, then (and going back to service time) you don’t want him on the roster because of the possibility he might get injured while on the 25. Then he burns up time without any benefit to the team.
Well, professional SS MLB players shouldn’t go to the 10-day IL for a bruised finger either, especially when this particular player makes $35M / year.
This has more to do with him coming back than Lewis’ service time & ROY, imo. But, one never knows until an administrator gets drunk at a function and spills the beans amongst friends….
That has nothing to do with it. Not one thing.
Just a stupid move. Lewis’ bat has shown it belongs and he’s defensively capable of sliding around to keep a needed offensive presence in the lineup. I would offer this is a small market team reading the tea leaves and believing Lewis is one of the favorites for rookie of the year – which would speed up his service time clock. The Twins seem content to not put the best product on the field for an exchange of another year of control. And along they way they are ok with killing the momentum that Lewis had been building on the MLB level. This is a low class move by the Twins.
What college did you graduate from?
You make it out of middle school?
Yes.
Ha you think college is useful
erauber;
Not me.
It’s just been an indoctrination exercise for 25 years now. Trade schools teach people skills. Even Apple Computers stopped requiring a college degree to work there years ago (other advanced corporations / businesses as well). They found that some of their best candidates / employees were those that taught themselves on their own.
I audited classes at a college when I retired. Became friendly with department heads. They told me that business in the area made formal complaints to them about the caliber of graduates that they hired.
No one got what I wrote……which is not new.
Yes Samuel, we know, we get it. You’re the smartest person on this forum, you always are, and you always will be. Your opinion is fact and everyone else’s opinion is a lie. According to you, you are a genius. Congratulations on being such an expletive deleted. Pat yourself on the back again, and bless your heart.
Cool story. Tell it again.
My thoughts exactly. I have a couple of degrees and wouldn’t be in the job I have without it. College isn’t for everyone, but it is useful in many scenarios.
Maybe if I get another degree, I will approach Samuel’s level of knowledge.
Samuel reminds me of the famous Clint Eastwood quote “ he’s a legend in his own mind”
Funny, because when you go online a large majority of job listings cite “college degree strongly preferred” or similar as a stipulation for consideration of hire.
Trades are wonderful and we need people with them – probably more people because they’re so important. But college has a ton of value for jobs that require, well…college.
Correa > Lewis. Lewis doesn’t play anywhere else but shortstop. Sent down to work at other positions. He’s not going to play with Correa back and he needs to play everyday not sit on the bench. Boils down to nowhere to put basically. Once he learns to play elsewhere his value to the big club increases.
Lewis along with the twins other 8 season top prospects for Soto.
Twins made a good decision. With Correa back they don’t need him at SS. He showed his bat worthy. Let him go to AAA and get some reps at other positions and come back later this year as a Chris Taylor who can help them all around the field. Good move for both the Twins and Lewis
He’s played over 300 games at SS, only 13 on 3B, 6 in CF and 5 on 2B. Let him get up to a couple of dozen games at those other positions before letting him come back up and the Twins as well as Lewis will be better for it
Explain why this is a good decision? The notion of him getting reps in the minors at other positions is embarrassing. He can do that in the majors. I dont expect him to play the infield right away other than ss when Correa rests but he can play a respectable of right now. There are hundreds of guys playing in the of in mlb who shouldn’t own a glove. This guy can handle it. Taking his bat out of that lineup is crazy.
Yes, so correct, what was I thinking that getting the reps in minor league games where the mental and physical errors won’t hurt the big league team. Let’s let him learn the other positions and make the mistakes in situations that could cost the team wins. That’s much better……the minor leagues are making mistakes and learning, not the majors. Twins don’t need a SS, but could use a bat that can play multiple positions. Learning those positions in the majors would be the mistake.
Questionable theory – but it’s a moot position anyway. The Twins have said through numerous sources today that he will play every day at SS in AAA. There will be no learning other positions. This is a loser’s move by the Twins.
If he is playing SS everyday in AAA then this move makes no sense at all. His bat is good so far, let him DH and spell Correa.
Jose Miranda is playing multiple defensive positions, all poorly, while also batting poorly.
And he gets to stay up while Lewis has to go down. It’s not a “good move for both sides”
so, you’d rather have Lewis playing 1st base part time, since they have to get the overrated Luis Arraez in the lineup? you’d rather have him play 3rd instead of superior defensive Urshela? he’s barely played at AAA….There are always injuries. he will be back .
Who is overrating Luis Arraez? He’s hitting for a 140 wRC+ this year and has been a quality hitter for the Twins since 2019. He’s tied with Polanco for the second best wRC+ from a Twin dating back to ’19. Urshela might be a good defender, but he also has a .610 OPS. How much longer are you willing to put up with that poor of offense? When you have two line-up spots taken up by sub-90 OPS+ hitters, you should be playing the 22-year-old top prospect who has hit very well.
you can go by your metrics. my eyes see a light hitter swinging for the fences and hitting lots of fly balls. plus, he’s not so great on the field.
Arraez is throwback he’s a contact hitter who gets on base and that is who he is. He doesn’t hit the ball real hard but makes a lot of solid contact on the ground and line drives he’s a table setter and he’s valuable. He also has one of the lowest infield fly ball percentages in baseball so when he hits it in the air it gets to the outfield. He doesn’t have much power so he isn’t going to hit home runs. He also sprays the ball all around the field so the numbers say he is exactly the opposite of what wjf010 says he is.
Get your eyes checked.
He’ll be gone as soon as Larnach is ready.
He’s a rookie. Learning at the big league level can work but more often than not it proves too stressful and player flames out. Good move. Let him grow and bring him back when he has more value than a bat off the bench.
Why couldn’t they send down jose miranda whose batting under 100. Lewis was a spark they needed.
Lewis was the spark they needed?
Correa and Buxton are the sparks they need. The Twins have played worse since they sat down and Lewis had to play.
So a 22 year old whose done nothing but hit is not a spark?
A team should only have 2 sparks? And the twins havent played well without their 2 best players? Got it thx.
Meanwhile, Jose Miranda has been somehow even worse than Miguel Sano… and gets to stay up. SMH.
Clown move
And if twins were a forward thinking team royce lewis would of been playing other positions in aaa already this year! They knew they were going after Correa. This is why the twins havent won a playoff game since george w. Bush was sitting in the oval office
As an additional head scratcher, the Twins (Baldelli) said Lewis will continue to play SS at AAA – which shoots down the narrative where they are developing him into a Chris Taylor. This is a small market team with a small market mindset. They’ll plod their way to another .500 season, Correa will walk and they’ll be in the exact same spot with Lewis in 2023 where they are today. Except they won’t have the luxury of sitting him a game or two a week when he scuffles.
I sincerely doubt winning ROY was part of the equation. Lewis CB isn’t going to play SS with Correa healthy. He hasn’t played other positions since 2019 AFL. He’ll be back, probably soon. I hope he continues to hit like an All-Star.
let Lewis start in AAA and work on a few more positions. this is a good choice.
Not even a Twins’ fan, but why not move him around in the majors? A bat like his should find playing time, even if they have to put up with defensive miscues while he’s learning another role. Questionable decision, at best.
obviously a stupid move…Send down Miranda…play Correa at DH for a few games and see if his bat stays hot…worst case play him at 1B… everyone can play 1B….
No true. SS Carlos Guillen was a disaster at 1B and Gary Sheffield wasn’t much better. Other poor 1B off the top of my head were Frank Howard, Greg Luzinski, Dave Kingman and Adam Dunn.
Royce Lewis should make a great full time super sub.
What a joke. Hopefully the Twins stupid move leads to ten losses in a row.
People hating on this move. Don’t panic. He’ll be back soon enough. I am getting the feeling that this dude will eventually own this town. He has a bit of a Derek Jeter vibe to him.
Someone had to go, thought it would be Miranda. Sending Lewis down has pros and cons. He doesn’t seem like they type of guy who might take this poorly. I’m sure he’ll be back up soon
I’m starting to wonder how much longer Gordon’s leash is
Will the Twins be able to trade away Gary Sanchez by the trade deadline?