Headlines

  • Tucker Barnhart To Retire
  • Tyler Mahle To Be Sidelined Beyond Trade Deadline
  • Astros Place Jeremy Peña On Injured List With Fractured Rib
  • Reds Release Jeimer Candelario
  • Dave Parker Passes Away
  • Griffin Canning Diagnosed With Ruptured Achilles
  • Previous
  • Next
Register
Login
  • Hoops Rumors
  • Pro Football Rumors
  • Pro Hockey Rumors

MLB Trade Rumors

Remove Ads
  • Home
  • Teams
    • AL East
      • Baltimore Orioles
      • Boston Red Sox
      • New York Yankees
      • Tampa Bay Rays
      • Toronto Blue Jays
    • AL Central
      • Chicago White Sox
      • Cleveland Guardians
      • Detroit Tigers
      • Kansas City Royals
      • Minnesota Twins
    • AL West
      • Houston Astros
      • Los Angeles Angels
      • Oakland Athletics
      • Seattle Mariners
      • Texas Rangers
    • NL East
      • Atlanta Braves
      • Miami Marlins
      • New York Mets
      • Philadelphia Phillies
      • Washington Nationals
    • NL Central
      • Chicago Cubs
      • Cincinnati Reds
      • Milwaukee Brewers
      • Pittsburgh Pirates
      • St. Louis Cardinals
    • NL West
      • Arizona Diamondbacks
      • Colorado Rockies
      • Los Angeles Dodgers
      • San Diego Padres
      • San Francisco Giants
  • About
    • MLB Trade Rumors
    • Tim Dierkes
    • Writing team
    • Advertise
    • Archives
  • Contact
  • Tools
    • 2025 Trade Deadline Outlook Series
    • 2025-26 MLB Free Agent List
    • Contract Tracker
    • Transaction Tracker
    • Agency Database
  • NBA/NFL/NHL
    • Hoops Rumors
    • Pro Football Rumors
    • Pro Hockey Rumors
  • App
  • Chats
Go To Pro Hockey Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Royce Lewis Diagnosed With Grade 2 Oblique Strain

By Darragh McDonald | July 4, 2023 at 11:49am CDT

The Twins placed infielder Royce Lewis on the 10-day injured list on the weekend due to a strained left oblique. The club was initially hopeful that he would only require a minimum stint but manager Rocco Baldelli yesterday informed reporters, including Bobby Nightengale of the Star Tribune, that Lewis has been diagnosed with a Grade 2 strain which comes with a standard recovery time of six weeks.

The youngster’s career thus far has alternated between incredible flashes of talent and extended injury absences. The first overall pick of the 2017 draft, he was a top 100 prospect for much of his time in the minor leagues. A torn ACL in his right knee wiped out his entire 2021 season but he was able to return last year. He looked great once back on the field, hitting .313/.405/.534 in 34 Triple-A games and .300/.317/.550 in 12 major league games. Unfortunately, he tore the ACL in his right knee a second time last summer, wiping out the second half of 2022 and putting him on the IL to start this year.

He was activated in late May and didn’t seem to miss a beat, despite all that missed time. He’s hit .326/.354/.474 through 26 games so far this year for a wRC+ of 132. Unfortunately, he’s now back on the injured list yet again and won’t return until mid-August, assuming the six-week estimate proves accurate.

2023 was already going to be an injury-shortened season for Lewis, but he and the club were likely hoping that he could at least build up a decent body of work in preparation for a fully healthy season in 2024. But he’ll now be faced with another extended absence before hopefully returning to get some more playing time down the stretch. Due to the injuries and the 2020 minor leagues being cancelled by the pandemic, he hasn’t reached 50 games played in a season since 2019.

Lewis had been serving as the club’s everyday third baseman over the past month-plus and the Twins will now need to come up with alternate plans for the hot corner. José Miranda was recalled when Lewis hit the IL and has gotten the start there the past two days. He had a solid campaign last year with a .268/.325/.426 batting line but is hitting just .213/.267/.309 this year and even slashed a paltry .255/.326/.360 in Triple-A.

Unless Miranda can get back into a good groove, the club may have to think about pursuing reinforcements at the August 1 trade deadline. Lewis could potentially be working his way back by then but they may not want to be reliant on him with his mounting injury history. The club is currently right at .500 with a 43-43 record but that’s good enough for first place in the American League Central right now, putting them in position to buy.

Jeimer Candelario is having a good season and stands out as one of the most obvious trade candidates, given that he’s an impending free agent on a poor Nationals team. Some less-obvious names might emerge as well with so few clear sellers this year, perhaps leading to more trades between contenders. The Orioles, for example, have many infielders but need pitching and could perhaps line up on something with the Twins. But there will also be competition as clubs like the Angels, Brewers, Yankees and others could be looking for infield upgrades as well.

Share 0 Retweet 0 Send via email0

Minnesota Twins Royce Lewis

Red Sox Place Garrett Whitlock On IL With Elbow Inflammation
Main
Mets Select DJ Stewart, Designate Denyi Reyes For Assignment
View Comments (13)
Post a Comment

13 Comments

  1. mlb fan

    2 years ago

    Maybe more “pilates” or stretching is needed, but it’s amazing the number of young MLB players that can’t play 3 weeks straight, without some kind of debilitating injury.

    1
    Reply
    • SODOMOJO

      2 years ago

      Bigger faster and stronger. The human body has to catch up to these advanced modern training methods.

      3
      Reply
    • solaris602

      2 years ago

      These organizations really do need to review the conditioning and sports health programs in place from the 50s-80s when there was a small fraction of the incidence of injuries they have now. Clearly there are some serious mistakes being made across the board in the current state of baseball sports medicine.

      2
      Reply
  2. Dunk Dunkington

    2 years ago

    Does Buxton and Lewis use Frank Reynolds as their trainer?

    7
    Reply
    • WobblyGreg

      2 years ago

      Just position yourself under the bar and listen to me. Alright, here’s what you’re gonna do. You’re gonna take all the weight on your neck. Then, you’re gonna jam your legs down and hyperextend your ankles and then shoot back up and lock your knees in place.

      1
      Reply
  3. Rsox

    2 years ago

    Royce Lewis>Byron Buxton 2.0

    1
    Reply
    • ForDoingNothing

      2 years ago

      Are you trying to say =?
      You’re saying Royce Lewis is better than Byron buxton 2.0 by using >

      Reply
      • Get Off My Mound

        2 years ago

        Pretty obvious he’s comparing the glass-boned bodies of both players.

        4
        Reply
  4. RyanD44

    2 years ago

    It’s crazy that oblique injuries were essentially unheard of until everyone started trying to be a bodybuilder.

    5
    Reply
  5. LarryJ4

    2 years ago

    Shocker

    Reply
  6. bravesfan1976

    2 years ago

    Man I hate it for him health-wise the last few years, genuinely one of the nicest guys in baseball.

    1
    Reply
  7. 5TUNT1N

    2 years ago

    At least it’s not his acl again! Speedy recovery Bro Namath!

    Reply
  8. martras

    2 years ago

    Seems as though Lewis will join the list of perennially injured Twins players.
    Buxton, Kepler, Lewis, Larnach, Polanco… it’s a major trend with the position players for Minnesota.

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Please login to leave a reply.

Log in Register

    Top Stories

    Tucker Barnhart To Retire

    Tyler Mahle To Be Sidelined Beyond Trade Deadline

    Astros Place Jeremy Peña On Injured List With Fractured Rib

    Reds Release Jeimer Candelario

    Dave Parker Passes Away

    Griffin Canning Diagnosed With Ruptured Achilles

    Pirates Reportedly Have Very Few Untouchable Players At Trade Deadline

    Griffin Canning Believed To Have Suffered Achilles Injury

    Mariners Looking For Corner Infield Bats; Ownership Willing To Bump Payroll

    Wander Franco Found Guilty Of Sexual Abuse

    Mariners Place Rowdy Tellez On Release Waivers

    Max Meyer To Undergo Season-Ending Hip Surgery

    Whit Merrifield Announces Retirement

    White Sox Sign Noah Syndergaard To Minor League Deal

    Corbin Carroll Placed On IL With Wrist Fracture

    Hoops Rumors Has The Latest On NBA Draft, Free Agency

    Mets Option Francisco Alvarez

    Reds To Promote Chase Burns For MLB Debut

    A.J. Puk Undergoes Elbow Surgery; Gabriel Moreno Diagnosed With Fractured Finger

    Braves To Select Didier Fuentes

    Recent

    Tucker Barnhart To Retire

    Tyler Mahle To Be Sidelined Beyond Trade Deadline

    Orioles Place Zach Eflin On Injured List

    Rockies Expected To Promote Yanquiel Fernandez

    Yankees Select Geoff Hartlieb, Place Fernando Cruz On 15-Day IL

    Trade Deadline Outlook: Chicago White Sox

    Trade Rumors Front Office Subscriber Chat Transcript

    Padres Designate Logan Gillaspie For Assignment

    Phillies Reinstate Bryce Harper, Designate Buddy Kennedy For Assignment

    Athletics Select Colby Thomas

    MLBTR Newsletter - Hot stove highlights in your inbox, five days a week

    Latest Rumors & News

    Latest Rumors & News

    • Sandy Alcantara Rumors
    • Luis Robert Rumors
    • Alex Bregman Rumors

     

    Trade Rumors App for iOS and Android App Store Google Play

    MLBTR Features

    MLBTR Features

    • Remove Ads, Support Our Writers
    • Front Office Originals
    • Front Office Fantasy Baseball
    • MLBTR Podcast
    • Trade Deadline Outlook Series
    • 2025-26 MLB Free Agent List
    • Contract Tracker
    • Transaction Tracker
    • Extension Tracker
    • Agency Database
    • MLBTR On Twitter
    • MLBTR On Facebook
    • Team Facebook Pages
    • How To Set Up Notifications For Breaking News
    • Hoops Rumors
    • Pro Football Rumors
    • Pro Hockey Rumors

    Rumors By Team

    • Angels Rumors
    • Astros Rumors
    • Athletics Rumors
    • Blue Jays Rumors
    • Braves Rumors
    • Brewers Rumors
    • Cardinals Rumors
    • Cubs Rumors
    • Diamondbacks Rumors
    • Dodgers Rumors
    • Giants Rumors
    • Guardians Rumors
    • Mariners Rumors
    • Marlins Rumors
    • Mets Rumors
    • Nationals Rumors
    • Orioles Rumors
    • Padres Rumors
    • Phillies Rumors
    • Pirates Rumors
    • Rangers Rumors
    • Rays Rumors
    • Red Sox Rumors
    • Reds Rumors
    • Rockies Rumors
    • Royals Rumors
    • Tigers Rumors
    • Twins Rumors
    • White Sox Rumors
    • Yankees Rumors

    Navigation

    • Sitemap
    • Archives
    • RSS/Twitter Feeds By Team

    MLBTR INFO

    • Advertise
    • About
    • Commenting Policy
    • Privacy Policy

    Connect

    • Contact Us
    • Twitter
    • Facebook
    • RSS Feed

    MLB Trade Rumors is not affiliated with Major League Baseball, MLB or MLB.com

    Do not Sell or Share My Personal Information

    hide arrows scroll to top

    Register

    Desktop Version | Switch To Mobile Version