Twins Recall Royce Lewis, Designate James Outman
Royce Lewis is back in the majors, as the Twins announced that the infielder has been called up from Triple-A St. Paul. Outfielder James Outman was designated for assignment in the corresponding move, so Minnesota now has an open spot on its 40-man roster.
Lewis’ ugly .163/.261/.279 slash line over his first 119 plate appearances of the season was enough to convince the Twins that the former first overall pick needed a tune-up, so Lewis was optioned to St. Paul on May 19. The move has apparently worked, as Lewis’ bat has come to life against minor league pitching. Between the 13 games since his demotion and two rehab games earlier this season, Lewis has hit .333/.403/.900 in 67 PA at the Triple-A level, with a whopping 10 homers in that small sample size.
Obviously this kind of Ruthian production isn’t going to continue against MLB pitching, yet it does indicate that Lewis may have at least regained some confidence at the plate, in addition to any mechanical changes worked out with the Triple-A coaching staff. While injuries have been the dominant storyline of Lewis’ Major League career, he hasn’t been a particularly effective hitter since what seemed to be a breakout 2023 season, as Lewis has hit just .225/.285/.398 over 847 PA since Opening Day 2024.
The other interesting element to Lewis’ time in the minors has been some time spent at first and second base, in addition to his usual third base spot. It remains to be seen where Lewis will play upon his return to the majors, as Brooks Lee was moved from shortstop to third base in Lewis’ absence, with Tristan Gray getting most of the looks at shortstop.
Neither player is hitting well enough to have laid a real claim to either position, so it could be that Gray is returned to bench duty and the Twins revert to their normal infield alignment. Outman’s DFA leaves utilitymen Kody Clemens and Ryan Kreidler as the backup outfield options on the 26-man roster, so Clemens could get more time in the outfield if Lewis gets some looks as a first baseman.
Minnesota acquired Outman from the Dodgers for Brock Stewart at last year’s trade deadline, and the change of scenery didn’t help Outman regain any of the hitting prowess he showed early in his big league career. Outman hit .248/.353/.437 with 23 home runs for the Dodgers over 567 PA in 2023, but he has since batted .144/.235/.284 over his last 374 PA against MLB pitching. Those lowly numbers include a .156/.229/.250 slash in 70 PA this season as a backup outfielder.
This is the first time Outman has been designated for assignment, and he has less than three years of MLB service time. As such, he will have to accept an outright assignment to Triple-A if he clears waivers or isn’t traded since the DFA period. Outman has some speed and he can play all three outfield positions, yet his offense has been so lackluster that he’ll probably clear waivers and remain in Minnesota’s organization.
Twins Playing Royce Lewis At First Base, Second Base In Minors
The Twins optioned infielder Royce Lewis to Triple-A a couple of weeks ago. Since then, he has hit eight home runs and slashed .367/.446/.939. He has also started expanding his defensive versatility. He played first base yesterday and was at second base the day before.
Late last month, it was fair to wonder if Lewis’s time with the Twins was coming to an end. He has shown huge talent at times but has struggled to stay healthy. Last year, he got into a career-high 106 games but hit just .237/.283/.388. Here in 2026, he put up a .163/.261/.279 line while striking out 31.1% of the time.
When the Twins decided to send him down to the minors, they moved shortstop Brooks Lee to cover third base, which had been Lewis’s primary position. Shortstop prospect Kaelen Culpepper is killing it in Triple-A, so it looked like the left side of the infield was set for the long term. Lewis has already qualified for arbitration, making $2.85MM this season. Given his struggles and the roster picture, it looked like he was trending towards a non-tender.
But as mentioned, his bat has immediately picked up since being sent down to Saint Paul. In addition to the home runs, he has only struck out at a 19.6% pace since the demotion. It’s obviously easier to put up good numbers against Triple-A pitching but the Twins are well aware that Lewis can hit in the majors. In 2022 and 2023, Lewis was limited by injuries to just 280 plate appearances but put up a monster .307/.364/.549 line in those.
Defensively, Lewis has mostly been at the hot corner. The Twins toyed with moving him to second base in 2024 but he logged just eight innings at the position at that time. He didn’t play the position again until this week’s game with the Saints. Yesterday was his first professional game as a first baseman.
If he can handle the new spots competently, and his resurgence at the plate holds, then he has a path back to the big leagues. Luke Keaschall is getting most of the playing time at the keystone and is controlled for many years to come but he is hitting just .245/.321/.316 so far this year. He had a dreadful March/April, got hot in May, but has cooled off again in June. Obviously, the current month is a very small sample, so Keaschall’s season-long performance is still trending up after a cool start. But he does have options if the Twins ever decide he needs a reset.
First base is far more open. Most of this year’s time at that spot has gone to Kody Clemens, Josh Bell and Victor Caratini. Ever since Ryan Jeffers suffered a hamate fracture in mid-May, Caratini has been the primary catcher. Bell is hitting just .227/.289/.345 on the year, so there’s an argument for reducing his playing time. He is also an impending free agent, so he’s not a part of the long-term picture.
Clemens is having a good year at the plate but can be moved elsewhere. The Twins have been using him in all three outfield spots this year. Matt Wallner getting optioned to the minors opened some time in the corners, though Trevor Larnach and Austin Martin are doing well in those spots. Clemens’ ability to cover center field, and Bell spending more time at first, has opened the designated hitter spot for Byron Buxton. A hip issue caused Buxton to miss some time recently but the Twins obviously want his bat in the lineup, so having that flexibility is huge for them.
Add it all up and the future for Lewis in Minnesota looks a bit more possible. Presumably, the Twins would like him to play a few more games at first base and get comfortable there, but there is a path for him to return and carve out a role in the big leagues again. If they don’t want to wait on that process, perhaps he could retake the third base job and push Lee back to short. Culpepper hasn’t been called up yet and the Twins have a Tristan Gray, Ryan Kreidler, Orlando Arcia rotation covering short for now. Regardless of the position, if Lewis comes up and performs well over the next few months, he can be retained via arbitration for the 2027 and 2028 seasons.
Photo courtesy of Jesse Johnson, Imagn Images
Twins Sign Austin Voth To Minor League Deal
The Twins signed right-hander Austin Voth to a minor league contract. The move was announced by their Triple-A affiliate in St. Paul, as he’ll start tonight’s game for the Saints.
Voth elected free agency on Tuesday after being outrighted by the Blue Jays. The 33-year-old had two very brief stops on Toronto’s big league roster. He made two long relief appearances, giving up six runs in as many innings. Voth surrendered eight hits, walked five batters, and threw three wild pitches while recording one strikeout.
The big league work wasn’t impressive, but Voth pitched well out of the Triple-A rotation. He made eight starts there and turned in a 2.90 earned run average, albeit while averaging less than four innings per appearance. Voth had a below-average 17% strikeout rate compared to a tidy 6.8% walk percentage. He doesn’t have big stuff but has mixed five pitches and been around the strike zone.
Minnesota pulled the plug on Simeon Woods Richardson with last week’s DFA. They traded him to Toronto for cash yesterday. Bailey Ober recently went down with a mild flexor strain that’ll shut him down completely for 10-14 days. He’ll be on the injured list for most or all of June. Kendry Rojas also recently suffered a triceps strain and Mick Abel has been out since the middle of April.
They’re currently operating with a four-man rotation of Joe Ryan, Taj Bradley, Zebby Matthews and Connor Prielipp. Rookie Mike Paredes is with the big league club in long relief but could draw into the rotation. John Klein is the only depth starter on optional assignment. Voth is the only other starter on the Triple-A team with MLB experience and will probably get a look as a long man at some point this summer.
Blue Jays Acquire Simeon Woods Richardson From Twins
The Blue Jays announced they’ve acquired right-hander Simeon Woods Richardson from the Twins for cash considerations. Toronto transferred lefty reliever Joe Mantiply from the 15-day to the 60-day injured list to open a 40-man roster spot. Mantiply recently underwent arthroscopic surgery on his left knee.
It’s the second time the Toronto front office has acquired Woods Richardson. The first came as a prospect back in 2019, when the Jays landed him from the Mets as part of the Marcus Stroman deal. Woods Richardson was one of the better pitching prospects in MLB and found himself in another notable deadline trade two years later. Toronto packaged him and then-top prospect Austin Martin to Minnesota in ’21 for José Berríos.
Woods Richardson debuted the following year with one start. He also made one appearance the following season. The former second-round pick held a rotation spot for the better part of the next two years. Woods Richardson was a decent mid-rotation arm, posting a low-4.00s earned run average in consecutive seasons. He combined for a 4.11 ERA with a league average strikeout and walk profile across 245 innings from 2024-25.
That included a strong September last year that added optimism about Woods Richardson’s form going into 2026. Things have gone completely off the rails this year instead. Woods Richardson made two strong starts to open the season. He was knocked around over his next seven appearances, allowing almost 10 earned runs per nine innings. Minnesota pushed him to the bullpen for two scoreless outings. He drew back in as a spot starter on May 28 and was blitzed for five runs in 2 2/3 innings by the White Sox.
Minnesota pulled the plug at that point. Woods Richardson is out of options and can’t be sent to the minors, so the Twins designated him for assignment on Saturday. That gave them five days to see if they could line up a trade before exposing him to waivers. They were able to find a trade partner but only for cash.
Woods Richardson is averaging 92.7 mph on his fastball. That’s down marginally from last year’s 93.2 mark but not a dramatic drop. He has scaled up the usage of his splitter while abandoning his changeup and cutting back on his curveball. Nothing has worked this year, but his splitter and slider were both effective offerings last season.
Toronto’s rotation has been decimated by injuries. Berríos and Cody Ponce are done for the year. Shane Bieber remains weeks away from his season debut. Dylan Cease and Max Scherzer are both out of action but on rehab assignments, so they’ll be back soon. Woods Richardson could make a spot start or two in the interim or work out of the bullpen. The Jays are using Kevin Gausman, Trey Yesavage and Patrick Corbin as traditional starters and have Rule 5 pick Spencer Miles working mostly in 3-4 inning stints behind an opener.
Woods Richardson is playing for around the league minimum salary. He’ll qualify for arbitration as a Super Two player this winter if he holds his roster spot. He’s under club control for four seasons beyond this one.
Mitch Bannon of The Athletic first reported the trade. Image courtesy of Bruce Kluckhohn, Imagn Images.
Bailey Ober Diagnosed With Flexor Strain
Twins righty Bailey Ober recently hit the injured list with inflammation in his right elbow. A subsequent MRI revealed a mild flexor strain, general manager Jeremy Zoll told the Twins beat (via The Athletic’s Dan Hayes). The imaging did not raise concern regarding Ober’s ulnar collateral ligament, though he’s receiving a second opinion as a precaution. Ober will be shut down from throwing entirely for the next 10 to 14 days. He’s likely to spend the majority or entirety of this month on the shelf.
It’s another notable hit to a Twins rotation that has been decimated by injury this season. Pablo López suffered a UCL tear in his first bullpen session of spring training and underwent internal brace surgery not long after, wiping him out for the entire season. Right-hander David Festa went down with a shoulder impingement during spring training and hasn’t pitched this season. A pair of big young arms Minnesota added at last year’s deadline — righty Mick Abel and lefty Kendry Rojas — are both on the shelf, too. Abel has been out for six weeks now with elbow inflammation, while Rojas recently landed on the 15-day IL due to a triceps injury. Meanwhile, Simeon Woods Richardson has struggled to the extent that the Twins designated the out-of-options righty for assignment.
June was a problematic month for Ober in 2025 as well. After a nice start to his season, he was blown up for 30 runs in 30 innings before heading to the injured list with a hip impingement. He spent a month on the IL and pitched decently in his return. He’s now looking at a second straight season with around a monthlong absence.
Ober, 30, opened the season on an impressive run. He capped off a stretch of nine strong outings (3.46 ERA in 52 innings) with a complete game shutout over the Marlins back on May 12. He’s struggled in three starts since, with worse results each time. Ober was tagged for eight runs (seven earned) over 4 2/3 innings his most recent time out and has yielded a total of 14 earned runs over his past 14 2/3 innings.
This is Ober’s fourth full season in the majors and the sixth overall in which he’s logged some big league time. The towering 6’9″ righty was never an especially touted prospect but has emerged as a capable mid-rotation stalwart in Minnesota. He carries a career 4.13 ERA with a 23.2% strikeout rate and 5.4% walk rate in 684 1/3 frames at the major league level. He’s controlled through 2027 and is earning a reasonable $5.2MM salary this season. If the Twins operate as sellers for a second straight deadline, it stands to reason that Ober would be a natural trade candidate — that is, as long as he’s healthy.
Zoll did provide a bit more positive news for Twins fans in his media session with the beat (via Bobby Nightengale of the Minnesota Star Tribune). Rojas is slated to resume throwing today, signaling a potentially short stay on the injured list. Abel will also take a big step toward returning when he pitches two innings in a simulated game this Thursday.
The Twins’ rotation at the moment includes Joe Ryan, Taj Bradley and current/recent top prospects Connor Prielipp and Zebby Matthews. They’ll go with Prielipp and Bradley in their next two games, but Thursday’s starter is listed as TBD. With five starters on the injured list and a sixth designated for assignment, their in-house options to step into that spot are slim. The same can be said of stopgaps on the waiver wire, though journeyman Austin Voth is currently out there after being DFA by the Blue Jays. A bullpen game is another option, though Minnesota’s bullpen is among the worst in the sport.
Pirates Trade Justin Lawrence To Twins
The Twins announced they’ve acquired reliever Justin Lawrence from the Pirates for cash. Pittsburgh designated the right-hander for assignment last week. Minnesota already had an opening on the 40-man roster and doesn’t need to make a corresponding move tonight.
Lawrence is out of minor league options, so the Twins will need to add him to the MLB roster. They’ll need to demote a pitcher once he reports to the team. Taylor Rogers, Anthony Banda and Yoendrys Gómez are Minnesota’s three in-house relievers who can’t be optioned.
It’s the latest dart throw for a patchwork Minnesota bullpen. Twins relievers are 25th in ERA and 29th in strikeout rate (above only the Nationals). They also had one of the highest walk rates in May. That was expected given the personnel, as the Twins have done very little to replace the various relievers they shipped out at last year’s deadline.
Lawrence is a 31-year-old sinkerballer who carries a 5.32 earned run average across 22 innings this season. He has a league average 23.6% strikeout rate against an elevated 11.3% walk percentage. Lawrence sits in the mid-90s with his fastball and has a swing-and-miss breaking ball. He has been held back by below-average command and missed the bulk of the 2025 season due to elbow inflammation.
Minnesota assumes the approximate $800K remaining on Lawrence’s $1.225MM arbitration salary. He’d be under club control for another two seasons if he pitches well enough to hold his roster spot.
Twins Place Bailey Ober On Injured List, Select Mike Paredes
The Twins are placing right-hander Bailey Ober on the 15-day injured list with elbow inflammation, according to Dan Hayes of The Athletic. They are also selecting the contract of Mike Paredes from Triple-A. He’ll be making his major league debut when he gets into a game. Meanwhile, Travis Adams has been recalled from Triple-A, while John Klein is being optioned in his place. The Twins’ 40-man roster is at 39 with Paredes’ selection, so no corresponding 40-man move is needed.
This is the fifth IL placement of Ober’s big league career. The previous four were due to hip and groin ailments, so this is Ober’s first elbow injury since 2019, when he missed two months with a right ulnar nerve subluxation. Ober’s timeline for returning should be made clearer in the coming days, though in any case, his absence comes at an unwelcome time for Minnesota.
Entering today, the Twins have a 27-32 record and are in third place in the AL Central. The club’s rotation has been middle of the pack, and that’s largely due to the excellence of Joe Ryan, who has a 2.94 ERA and 2.1 fWAR in 64 1/3 innings. Taj Bradley has a 3.21 ERA in 10 starts and is a solid No. 2 arm. Ober, despite leading the group with 66 2/3 innings, has merely been okay. He is striking out a career-low 16.4% of opposing hitters, and he’s already allowed 12 home runs, tied for ninth-highest among qualified starters.
Despite those shortcomings, Ober still holds value as a mid-rotation arm. His 4.59 ERA outpaces his 4.18 expected figure, which suggests that Ober has been somewhat unlucky. Ever the control artist, Ober is walking just 6.4% of hitters, which ranks in the 83rd percentile across the Majors. His breaking pitches have a run value of 7 according to Statcast, giving Ober lethal weapons to compensate for upper-90s fastball velocity.
All to say, Ober has been a reliable starter for the better part of six years. His absence doesn’t deprive the Twins of an ace, but it does strain the depth of the rotation behind Ryan and Bradley. Simeon Woods Richardson was designated for assignment yesterday after struggling to a 7.74 ERA in 12 appearances, 10 of which were starts. Zebby Matthews has three quality starts since being recalled on May 14th, but he had a 5.56 ERA in 16 starts last year. Connor Prielipp is Minnesota’s No. 5 prospect according to MLB.com, but he’s averaging less than five innings per start so far.
In the meantime, Paredes could be a short-term option for the rotation. The 25-year-old reached Triple-A for the first time in 2025 and has spent most of 2026 at that level. In 34 2/3 Triple-A innings across nine appearances (seven starts), Paredes has a solid 3.38 ERA. That mark comes with a sharp 5.7% walk rate and a 23.4% strikeout rate that would be better than average in the Majors. Paredes works off a 93.5 MPH four-seamer and also incorporates a slider and changeup, using those three pitches 85% of the time. FanGraphs’ RosterResource has Paredes as a long reliever, but given that he’s mostly started in the minors this year, it wouldn’t be unreasonable for him to get some starts.
Klein heads down to Triple-A only one day after being recalled. He threw 39 pitches over two scoreless innings yesterday, striking out one but walking three hitters. The pitch count would have made Klein unavailable for a couple days, so he is swapped out for a fresh arm in Adams. The latter has been optioned and recalled three times since being activated off the injured list at the end of April. Adams has only thrown ten innings in the Majors this year around those options, allowing eight earned runs in that small sample.
Photo courtesy of Charles LeClaire, Imagn Images
Twins Designate Simeon Woods Richardson For Assignment
The Twins announced that right-hander Simeon Woods Richardson has been designated for assignment. Fellow righty John Klein was called up from Triple-A in the corresponding 26-man roster move, and since Klein was already on the 40-man roster, Minnesota now has only 38 players on their 40-man.
Woods Richardson has a garish 7.74 ERA over 47 2/3 innings, with almost an even number of strikeouts (26) to walks (25). Minnesota removed SWR from the rotation two weeks ago, but he was pressed back into starting duty on Thursday when Kendry Rojas was scratched due to an elbow problem. The hits just kept coming, as Woods Richardson allowed five runs over 2 2/3 innings in the Twins’ 6-2 loss to the White Sox.
While Woods Richardson tossed three scoreless innings over his two relief appearances, he allowed a walk and a hit in both outings. The Twins obviously didn’t feel good enough about these performances to keep SWR around in a relief role, and since he is out of minor league options, Minnesota had to designate Woods Richardson and expose him to the waiver wire before trying to send him down to Triple-A.
A .339 BABIP and a 57.9% strand rate haven’t helped Woods Richardson’s cause, but his 5.74 SIERA indicates that his struggles are due to more than just bad luck. Woods Richardson has already been tagged for nine home runs in his 47 2/3 frames, continuing his issues at keeping the ball in the park against big league hitters.
Over 302 1/3 career innings in the Show, Woods Richardson has a 4.76 ERA for the Twins, with a 19.7% strikeout rate and 9.5% walk rate. His 11.5K% this season is a troubling dropoff even for a pitcher who didn’t miss many bats to begin with, and an increase in the use of a splitter has proven disastrous, as Woods Richardson’s split-finger fastball has been one of the least-effective offering of any pitch in baseball.
Though Woods Richardson’s peripherals have never been anything special, it is worth noting that he posted a respectable 4.11 ERA over 245 innings for Minnesota in 2024-25, starting 50 of his 51 games. Woods Richardson was also a top-100 prospect back in his days in the Blue Jays’ farm system, before he was dealt along with Austin Martin in the July 2021 deadline deal that sent Jose Berrios to Toronto.
As rough as things have been for Woods Richardson in 2026, his track record might get him a look on the waiver wire, if a rival pitching development staff feels it might have a fix. Woods Richardson is still only 25 and he has yet to reach arbitration eligibility, so he represents an interesting flier for teams in need of pitching depth, plus he could have a second act to his career if used strictly as a reliever.
Rojas was placed on the 15-day injured list yesterday with left elbow inflammation, dealing another blow to Minnesota’s rotation depth. While Woods Richardson was no longer in the starting picture and only went Thursday due to the emergency circumstance, the Twins are now without another pitcher they expected to be part of their 2026 rotation. Pablo Lopez was lost to Tommy John surgery, David Festa has yet to pitch in 2026 due to triceps and shoulder issues, and Mick Abel hasn’t pitched since April 14 due to elbow inflammation.
Which Impending Free Agent Bats Are Actually Improving Their Stock?
In case you weren't aware, the upcoming offseason's free agent class is ... well, it's... not exactly the stronge-- ok, it's not good. It's a weak class. Despite being headlined by a two-time Cy Young winner, that was always expected to be the case. The fact that said Cy Young winner, Tarik Skubal, is currently out following surgery to remove loose bodies from his elbow only further dampens the group's overall earning power.
We're due for an update on our Free Agent Power Rankings. That'll likely be published at some point next week. Our power rankings are always based on total earning power rather than individual impact. If you're a 38-year-old ace, you probably won't rank as highly as a 28-year-old regular at third base, because that 28-year-old is going to have access to a much longer (and thus more lucrative overall) contract than said 38-year-old. Sorry Chris Sale, them's the breaks.
That said, it's been a brutal year for most of the names at the top of an already underwhelming free agent class -- pitchers and hitters alike. Skubal, as mentioned, had elbow surgery. He'll be back -- sooner than originally anticipated, by all accounts -- but he's not going to take home a third straight Cy Young Award. Bo Bichette can opt out of his Mets contract ... but he's hitting .225/.273/.317. Trevor Rogers missed time on the injured list and has a nearly 7.00 ERA through nine starts. Jazz Chisholm Jr. has been terrific in May, but that only offsets an awful April. Tatsuya Imai came to MLB with plenty of hype and an opt-out-laden contract that potentially set him up to reenter free agency and cash in on a mega-deal next winter -- at least until he posted a 6.17 ERA through his first six MLB starts.
Any and all of these players have time to turn things around, and while the headline of this particular post is admittedly a bit hyperbolic, it's also true that most of the market's top bats aren't doing much to elevate their case. A big four months would make Chisholm's April a distant memory, but we're not there yet. Daulton Varsho has been better than average at the plate but hasn't shown the same power he did last year. Bichette's start has been dismal. Taylor Ward has followed up his 36-homer 2025 season by hitting two round-trippers through the first third of the 2026 season.
We'll cover a lot of the bigger names on the forthcoming update to our Power Rankings, but here's a look at some bats who probably won't make the list but are nonetheless trending in a positive direction. (Note that I'll be excluding some smaller-sample breakouts/resurgences for this list; Jorge Mateo's .324/.370/.471 slash looks great, but it's 73 plate appearances being propped up by a silly .455 BABIP and combined with a 30% strikeout rate. Let's not get too carried away.)
Brandon Lowe, 2B, Pirates
Pittsburgh's acquisition of Lowe in the three-team trade that sent Mike Burrows to Houston and Jacob Melton to Tampa Bay looks like one of the best moves of the offseason. The 31-year-old (32 in July) is in the midst of arguably the best season of his career. Lowe has belted 14 home runs in only 51 games. His 11.2% walk rate is the second-highest of his career, while his 23.7% strikeout rate is the second-lowest.
Not only are those excellent marks both relative to his career levels and the rest of the league, they both put a halt to some worrying trends. Lowe has always struck out a fair bit, but his 2022 mark of 22.9% looked like it might be a step in the right direction. Instead, it climbed to 27% from 2023-25 and did so while his walk rate plummeted to a career-worst 6.9% last year. Lowe still chases a bit too much, but he's made big gains on his in-zone contact rate and done so without sacrificing much in the way of hard-hit balls.
Durability will be key for Lowe, who played in only 415 of 648 possible games from 2022-25 (64%). However, he's currently on pace to match his career-high 39 home runs, set back in 2021, and he's doing so with the best strikeout-to-walk profile of his career.
If Lowe actually stays healthy and flirts with 40 homers, it's hard to imagine a scenario where he's not in the top 10 on our list. But even if his power output cools down, he's done a nice job improving his stock thus far.
The open market in modern baseball rarely rewards pure second basemen, which is what Lowe is at this point. He's played exactly three innings of outfield since the 2021 season wrapped, and he has all of 155 career innings at first base. It also rarely compensates 32-year-olds on long-term deals. Lowe has an uphill battle based on position and age, but he's still angling for a nice multi-year deal.
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Twins Move Brooks Lee To Third Base
The Twins’ experiment with Brooks Lee at shortstop has apparently run its course. The former No. 8 overall pick has been playing third base since Royce Lewis‘ demotion to Triple-A St. Paul, and manager Derek Shelton told the Twins beat this week that Lee’s defensive home moving forward will be the hot corner (link via Bobby Nightengale of the Minnesota Star Tribune).
It’s not a terribly surprising development, but it’s one that has plenty of ramifications for the organization as a whole. Lee was a shortstop in college at Cal Poly, but scouting reports questioned whether he’d be able to stick there even back at the time of the draft. He logged 803 innings at short in 2024-25 and didn’t grade especially well there. For much of that time, he was focusing on multiple positions because the Twins also had Carlos Correa signed long-term. Last July’s trade sending Correa back to Houston freed up a potential long-term opportunity at shortstop.
Lee, 25, entered the year with a legitimate opportunity to seize the position. It hasn’t happened. He’s delivered a solid .259/.315/.416 batting line (105 wRC+) in 201 trips to the plate, but he’s been dinged with negative grades from Defensive Runs Saved (-8) and Outs Above Average (-1). The switch-hitter’s bat has come to life after a slow start — .292/.344/.460 in his past 123 plate appearances — and he’ll try to keep that momentum going at a different position. It’s probably more anecdotal than anything else, but Lee has tallied multiple hits in three of five games since moving to third base.
Lee’s move to third base creates some short-term opportunity for one of the organization’s best prospects and also raises some long-term questions about Lewis’ role within the organization.
Kaelen Culpepper, Minnesota’s first-round pick in 2024, is currently a consensus top-100 prospect. He had a slow start to his season in Triple-A but has heated up with a .266/.392/.557 slash this month — all while walking nearly as often (14.4%) as he’s struck out (16.5%). He’s already swatted 11 homers in only 46 games/218 plate appearances, and he’s 11-for-11 in stolen base attempts. That comes on the back of a 20-homer, 25-steal showing in 113 games between High-A and Double-A last year.
The 23-year-old Culpepper could get a look before long, and Lee’s move over to third base opens Culpepper’s natural position at the big league level. However, if Lee and Culpepper are the left-side infield of the future at Target Field, it doesn’t leave much room for Lewis unless he can either slide across the diamond to first base or take on more of a designated hitter role. Lewis has limited experience at second base, but the Twins still hope that Luke Keaschall can claim that as his long-term home. Another former top prospect, Keaschall hit the ground running in 2025 before a broken forearm cost him more than three months. He then ended the season back on the IL due to a thumb injury.
Whether it was the cold weather, lingering effects from those 2025 injuries, some small-sample noise or a combination of the three, Keaschall got out to a dismal start in 2026 and at one point looked like he could be at risk of being optioned. He’s righted the ship with a .271/.388/.353 slash over the past month (103 plate appearances). He hasn’t exactly cemented his status as the long-term second baseman, but the still-23-year-old Keaschall has now played in 100 major league games and turned in a solid .268/.349/.374 batting line despite navigating a pair of arm/hand injuries. He’s trending in the right direction.
First base and designated hitter are a bit more unsettled in the long term. The Twins signed Josh Bell to a one-year, $7MM deal to split time between those spots this past offseason. Utilityman Kody Clemens has seen plenty of time at first base this season. Offseason pickup Victor Caratini — signed through 2027 — has seen a handful of games there as well. None of the Twins’ best prospects are first basemen. Former first-round pick Aaron Sabato was perhaps viewed as a long-term option there or at designated hitter when he was selected 27th overall back in 2020, but he’s about to turn 27 and hasn’t made his debut yet. He’s hitting .298/.358/.661 in Triple-A, granted, but he’s doing so with a strikeout rate just under 30%.
Perhaps if Lewis can continue his early production since being demoted to Triple-A, the right side of the diamond and/or designated hitter will be a more serious consideration. He’s played in five games since being optioned and already has four home runs. Including a pair of rehab games in St. Paul earlier this season, Lewis is slashing .296/.367/.963 with six homers in only 30 Triple-A plate appearances.
There’s little doubting Lewis’ inherent physical talent, but he’ll need to curb this year’s alarming spike in chases and whiffs — while avoiding further entries to his lengthy list of injuries — to rebuild his stock within the organization. Given all this surrounding context, it’s also plenty fair to wonder whether he might eventually emerge as a change-of-scenery candidate ahead of this summer’s trade deadline.