Twins infielder Royce Lewis made his first career appearance at second base yesterday, fielding three innings of work at the position during the club’s win over the Blue Jays. According to a report from Aaron Gleeman of The Athletic, that could be the start of what becomes a more permanent move to the keystone as the club ponders Lewis’s defensive future.
Lewis is among the league’s most impressive young hitters, although he’s been hampered by injuries to this point in his career. The first overall pick of the 2017 draft has been nothing short of electric at the plate when healthy enough to play throughout his time in the majors, with a .286/.345/.552 (146 wRC+) slash line since his debut back in 2022. He’s done more of the same so far this season, as he’s slashed an excellent .259/.322/.557 (140 wRC+) in 227 trips to the plate between stints on the injured list due to quad and hip injuries. Among hitters with at least 200 plate appearances this year, Lewis’s .299 isolated slugging percentage ranks fifth in the majors behind only Aaron Judge, Shohei Ohtani, Kyle Tucker, and Kerry Carpenter.
Despite possessing one of the league’s most potent bats, however, Lewis’s glove stands out as a serious question mark. While Statcast’s Outs Above Average metric has generally looked upon his work at the hot corner somewhat favorably (+2 OAA at the position for his career), Fielding Bible’s Defensive Runs Saved has been less kind with a -2 DRS in just 35 games at the position this year. Advanced defensive metrics require much larger sample sizes to stabilize than the 700 innings Lewis has posted a third base so far in his career, but the eye test and traditional defensive stats aren’t particularly forgiving regarding the 25-year-old’s performance either.
Lewis has committed 11 errors in 84 games at the hot corner, ten of which have been throwing errors. That’s a worrying total at a position that prioritizes the fielder’s arm as much as third base does, and even regulars at the hot corner who are generally regarded as below average defenders like Rafael Devers and Austin Riley don’t commit throwing errors at a clip that elevated. By comparison, Devers has committed 11 total throwing errors at third base since the start of the 2023 season, while Riley has committed that same number since the start of the 2022 campaign. That volume of errors comes in sample sizes of more than 2,000 and 3,000 innings respectively, figures which both dwarf Lewis’s innings total at the position.
Given Lewis’s lackluster throwing ability, it’s perhaps no surprise that the club would consider moving him to the keystone. According to Gleeman, Lewis has been taking regular practice reps at second base recently prior to yesterday’s in-game debut at the position, and club officials are currently “evaluating” whether to use Lewis at second or third base in the long term. Currently, the club is without shortstop Carlos Correa due to plantar fasciitis and is relying on a patchwork infield while mixing and matching between Lewis, Brooks Lee, Willi Castro, Jose Miranda, and Edouard Julien. Once Correa returns to reclaim the shortstop job, however, Gleeman suggests that the Twins plan to install Lewis and Lee as their long-term answers on either side of him and simply haven’t decided which position which player will play.
Lee is regarded as a stronger defender compared to Lewis and figures to profile as the superior defensive option at both positions. Gleeman notes in particular that Lee’s superior throwing arm could make him a “more natural” fit at the hot corner, but also suggests that Lewis is “somewhat apprehensive” about learning the new position on the fly. Of course, those concerns likely wouldn’t be a significant factor in the long term, as the Twins could dedicate Lewis to learning his new position during the coming offseason and Spring Training if they decide on the keystone as his long-term defensive home.
Installing either Lee or Lewis at second base would likely spell the end of Julien’s time at the position. The 25-year-old enjoyed a sensational rookie campaign last year as he slashed an excellent .263/.381/.459 in 408 plate appearances as the club’s primary second baseman. He’s a below average defender at the position, however, and his 2024 campaign has left much to be desired offensively as he’s struck out at a 34.7% clip while watching his walk rate dip from 15.7% last year to a somewhat less impressive 12.7% this season. It’s a somewhat similar situation for third baseman Jose Miranda, who lost his regular job in the Twins’ infield with a lackluster offensive performance and is also generally regarded as a below average defender. Looking ahead to 2025, it’s possible that both Julien and Miranda could look to compete with Alex Kirilloff for playing time at first base while also filling in at their respective positions elsewhere on the infield when injuries arise throughout the year.
Interesting move, but for the long term I don’t know how long Lewis could play 2nd
He does have enough speed but he’s a big man so maybe he switches to first when he loses his speed? Or goes back to 3rd?
He is 6’2″ 200 lbs which in terms of the average person is quite big, but that is about average for a baseball player. 2B would allow his to utilize his range more and hide his arm issues. Seems like a better fit than 3B.
All of this is for not since he will have to play half his games at DH anyway to stay healthy
DJ LeMahieu is 6’4”, slow, and deservedly won three Gold Gloves at 2B while in Colorado. There are other factors at play. Not saying Lewis will be a good defender at 2B, but his size shouldn’t be the issue.
Come on, lemahieu wasn’t that slow when he was younger, but he has provided GG defense at every position he played
Lewis on the other hand has been awarded Bad Glove defense at everywhere he’s played (twins fans all remember the once and only time he was in CF)
He hits plenty. They could easily justify moving him to 1B. The Twins are smart though. They seem to like to keep 1B open for anyone who forces their way into the lineup with their bat, but doesn’t have a defined defensive position.
I worry about his knees holding up making the pivot at 2B, but otherwise he seems plenty athletic to handle the switch.
I agree when he loses his speed he should immediately go to 1st, it’s not like they would be wasting an arm anyways
Miranda is hitting 301 with 2.5 WAR. I don’t regularly watch the Twins. Is he a bad defender?
They seemed to have love for Lewis and Miranda may be a late bloomer. This is the first year he has been able to maintain his hit tool in the majors..
Streaky hitter. Below average defender at 3b and 1B. I think he is the long term answer at 1B. He needs consistent play there to improve but Carlos Santana has played well there limiting his time.
Must be nice to have so many talented infielders and position players to choose from.
I’ve never heard of that before. I’m a White Sox fan.
One thing the Sox do have in my opinion is potential with young starting pitching.
I know it’s hard to hear it with the season being horrendous but you may only be a few years from a decent team.
Good pitching with a really poor lineup can still get u to .450-.500 ball.
See Seattle Tampa Bay etc
Yeah Schultz and Smith is probably the best 1 2 punch in the minors at the moment.
The guys pitching on the big squad have been very good in a tough situation.
Lotta good work. Learning on the job.
Schulz and Smith are studs. Drew Thorpe already in the rotation. Jairo Iriarte is gonna get a look. We should add another pitching stud or two in the Crochet deal. We are fine!
I feel your pitching will be fine , but need patience with the lineup. Takes many players to have a deep impact lineup. To get there May be a few years behind the pitching.
The tigers almost broke the record for losses in ‘03, then made a trip to the WS three years later
While I’m not saying the white Sox are going to do that if they have a strong rebuild then add veterans around the young core than they could be good in the late 2020s-early 2030s
They had Dombrowski. White Sox has Getz.
We have some position players coming! George Wolkow, a 19 year-old from Downers Grove, gonna be a stud. We ain’t even looking at Spencer Jones from the Yankees anymore. Wolkow is gonna be better!
Due to circumstances, I have seen George play a few times. Barry isn’t exaggerating, he looks like a future big leaguer, and he’s not the only one.
Love how people continue to bash Devers defense. That team is a trainwreck defensively and he’s far from the problem. His defensive game has improved so much over the years. He’s having his best all around season this year.
Agreed, but that makes the acquisition of defensively-challenged Grissom even more of a headscratcher. Were they that desperate for offense and/or unloading Sale’s contract?
I suspect it was dump Sale’s contract and get either a player or potential trade chip back as a bonus. Sale has pitched more innings this year than the last three combined.
Here is a trade idea I was working on involving the Twins and Cardinals
Castro
Keaschall
Winokur
For
Nootbaar
Bernal
S Hernandez
Twins get much needed catching help long term. Bernal looks like he has a shot to be an everyday catcher. Also they trade some infield depth for a quality outfielder in Nootbaar who can replace Kepler and is cheap. Cardinals get a righty bat for 2b and center in Keaschall. Winokur could replace Donovan in 3 years and Castro can back up center and short for a year.
While Castro would be the new edman for St. Louis, I can’t see them trading nootbaar because marmol and moz just seem obsessed with him even though he is at most a slightly above average player
The only people obsessed with Nootbaar are the media. An average player is a good player, especially if he’s not making a lot of money. He’s very similar to Kepler who was expensive in 2024 and is a soon to be free agent.
The curious thing about Noot and to a lesser degree Donovan is their sudden refusal to take walks. They both came to the majors as on-base machines. Now, they are just like everyone else on the team and prefer soft contact to a walk. The patience has been coached out of them. That belief is reinforced by watching Luken Baker, fresh from Memphis, walking like crazy.
I have said before, our AAA hitting coaches are WAAAAY better at their jobs than the major league coaches.
I could easily see the Cardinals trading Noot because they want Walker in RF. I think Noot will make them regret it in a big way. He’ll go to another team who actually values his on-base skills and thrive. The Cardinals streak of giving up on talented OF will remain intact.
Yeah man I don’t actually want to trade Nootbaar but I think the team wants to let Walker play and if so him being dealt would make sense. Yeah if you are another team and the Cardinals have an outfielder to trade you are picking up that phone and listening for sure.
For sure.
We also have too many lefties and specifically lefties who can’t hit lefty pitching. Look up the splits for Gorman, Donovan, Nootbaar, Burleson and Siani they are all very dramatic and large. So I think moving on from a lefty bat and replacing him with a switch hitter(we lost 2 of those in Carlson and Edman) makes a lot of sense.
Maybe we trade Gorman but that one could make the team look really really stupid.
The problem is the Cardinals position players all seem to be suspect. Right now Burleson is the best of the young group in the majors. Burleson was thought of as a 4th OF but he at least has produced solidly in the majors this year with full time ABs. The question is can you trust they are really starter worthy?
Nootbaar is a better player than Burleson because of base running and defense. But Burleson can play 1b so I don’t think they want to move him. Nootbaar is absolutely a starter. Had some minor health issues but he’s a starter.
I don’t know the metrics, but I don’t think the twins are struggling at catcher. Jeffers and Vazquez have been solid offensively this year. Vaz struggled early but decent recently.
Vazquez is a free agent after 2025 and Jeffers after 2026. Bernal is projected to be ready mid 2026 and the Twins have no catchers in their top 30 prospects.
Castro isn’t available. He’s too good, affordable, twins are win now mode and Rocco loves loves loves his Swiss Army knife.
Keaschall could be had but hopefully for starting pitching if so
A catching prospect would be nice for the post Jeffers era. Nootbar is good but the Twins have enough LHHCOF.
Castro could be replaced by the emergence of Lee and Martin. The Twins are losing Kepler a lefty outfielder and some of the other guys are starting to look like they will never live up to their potential. The Cardinals have starting pitching to trade if it made sense but I think catcher is what the Twins really need and that’s definitely what the Cardinals have too much of.
‘Cardinals have starting pitching to trade’?
Oh really, lol !!!!!
They do. They have Mcgreevy, Graceffo, Robberse, Bedell and Kloffenstein all at AAA. Hence, Roby, Hjerpe and Rajcic in AA. The problem is the team would rather sign old guys than let their young pitching develop and learn on the job. It’s not that there is a lack of pitching talent.
And I forgot perhaps their best pitching preselect Matthews. And Liberatore is a former top 50 overall prospect.
Twins LHHCOF options next year
Noot(1.2WAR this year)is more proven than Larnach(1.2)/Wallner(2) but both have claimed a spot next year imo
Castro, best utility player in the league last two years
Kirilloff deserves another shot here or 1B
Emmanuel Rodriguez is having a strong year
It’s really just a swap of Nootbaar and Castro. Kepler and Margot are gone too. Perhaps the Teins could use a righty hitting outfielder more but I think Nootbaar is a good fit he’s very similar to Kepler. Nootbaar is cheaper than Castro and under control for 3 years instead of 1.
Maybe cause they know they all are not very good. And Liberatore – give me a break. Even you probably know, he will never amount to anything.
All those guys I mentioned aren’t any good? Lol ok fella. Like I said the Cardinals have a ton of young pitching. The problem is the team doesn’t want to let them play. McGreevy made 1 big league start looked great and he got sent back down haven’t seen him since. Liberatore has never had a real opportunity. Most teams would let the young guys play but not the Cardinals.
What was Harris thinking when he non tendered Castro?
Seems like an awful deal for the Twins.
Are you a Twins fan who doesn’t know anything about other teams and their players?
That’s what it seems like.
Sure, kid.
There was a time when .259 was considered average
If you value hitters by their batting averages, then may I ask if you’re up for making bets with me sometime?
The Twins seem to have the worst luck with health with their top prospects. Lewis, Sano and Buxton were a MASH unit the last few years.
I’m pretty sure we are on to Julien and Kiriloff competing for a spot behind Miranda at this point. Neither has shown an ounce of what Miranda has been able to do and of all three Miranda is the least bad fielder
You need at least 5 quality infielders to cover the 4 infield spots. And in the Twins case perhaps 6 because Lewis is so darn injury prone.
Julien
Kiriloff
Miranda
Correa
Lewis
Lee
And Castro too but I think they might trade him.
The Twins love Castro and his versatility, they aren’t trading him.
Kirilloff won’t be tendered a contract at the end of the year in my opinion. I don’t think he’s anywhere on the depth chart at this point, and he’ll probably have to settle for a MiLB contract somewhere outside Minnesota for 2025. I’d imagine he’s well behind Yunior Severino on the depth charts even.
Lewis at 2B or 1B would probably be best defensively for him. Brooks Lee at 3B/SS with the stronger arm looks like the right move at the moment with Correa at SS when healthy. Does Willie Castro play CF to save Buxton from himself and his injuries, or is he a utility man for all positions besides C and 1B, since he ‘s a vital part of the Twins team/lineup? Would like to have read something about Castro’s role going forward.
Between Lewis and Buxton, this team needs 2 DH positions to keep them healthy.
Lewis should look at playing LF if his arm is strong enough to play 3B with speed good enough to swipe some bases. Buxton in CF can cover part of that territory and hide any major flaws Lewis may have covering the gap.
What is the issue causing Lewis to make errors on throws from 3B.
Not enough ZIP?
Too short?
Too high?
Too far left?
Too far right?
All the above can be corrected with training, practice, mechanics.
That’s what COACHES are for.
Throwing errors from third are most often the result of poor footwork. I like Lewis at second – big plus having that bat at the keystone.
Don’t think Kiriloff is going to factor into the equation next season.
Where else is he going to play? It appears Lee will be at short for awhile and Correa has to play somewhere.
Lewis has a much stronger arm and more range than Lee, but Lewis also has a problem with trying to do too much. The throwing errors are a problem, but I don’t expect Lewis will get past them without experience, keeping in mind he’s barely played the last several years.
Statcast arm throwing speed:
Lewis 84mph, Lee 81mph.
Maybe the Twins feel like Lewis’ throws will be more accurate if he’s closer to 1B? Though Carlos Santana gets tons of accolades, I’m not impressed with him. He plays a very selfish game defensively, and he’s more than willing to watch balls sail by and the runner advancing to 2B on a throwing error instead of just stepping off the bag and ensuring a catch, even if the runner winds up being safe.