Royce Lewis
Lewis with the St. Paul Saints in 2022
Minnesota Twins – No. 23
Third baseman
Born: (1999-06-05) June 5, 1999
Aliso Viejo, California, U.S.
Bats: Right
Throws: Right
MLB debut
May 6, 2022, for the Minnesota Twins
MLB statistics
(through 2023 season)
Batting average.307
Home runs17
Runs batted in57
Teams
Medals
Men's baseball
Representing  United States
15U Baseball World Cup
Silver medal – second place 2014 Mazatlán Team

Royce Oliver Lewis (born June 5, 1999) is an American professional baseball third baseman for the Minnesota Twins of Major League Baseball (MLB). He was drafted by the Twins first overall in the 2017 MLB draft. Lewis made his MLB debut in 2022.

Amateur career

Lewis attended JSerra Catholic High School in San Juan Capistrano, California. As a junior, he was the Los Angeles Times high school baseball player of the year after hitting .429 with four home runs.[1] In summer 2016, he played in the Under Armour All-American Game at Wrigley Field and the Perfect Game All-American Classic at Petco Park, and was named MVP of both games.[2][3] Lewis played mostly third base and outfield his first three years of high school before moving to shortstop for his senior year.[4]

Lewis was considered one of the top prospects for the 2017 Major League Baseball draft.[5] He committed to the University of California, Irvine to play college baseball.[6] He was named California's Baseball Gatorade Player of the Year in 2017 after batting .377 with four home runs and 25 stolen bases as a senior.[7]

Professional career

The Minnesota Twins selected Lewis with the first overall selection of the 2017 draft.[8] The Twins announced his signing on June 17,[9] and Lewis made his professional debut with the Gulf Coast League Twins of the Rookie-level Gulf Coast League on June 26. On August 12, Lewis was promoted to the Cedar Rapids Kernels of the Single-A Midwest League. He finished 2017 with a combined .279 batting average, four home runs, 27 RBIs, and 18 stolen bases in 54 games between both clubs.[10] Lewis began the 2018 season with Cedar Rapids.[11] In 75 games for Cedar Rapids, he batted .315 with nine home runs and 53 RBIs along with fifty runs scored and 22 stolen bases.[12]

On July 14, 2018, Lewis was promoted to the Fort Myers Miracle of the High-A Florida State League.[13] On July 26, 2018 MLB.com ranked Lewis as the 10th best prospect in baseball.[14] Lewis ended his stint in Fort Myers batting .255 with five home runs and 21 RBIs in 46 games.[15] Following the 2018 season, Lewis was named to the Midwest League postseason all-star team along with teammate Alex Kirilloff. Lewis was also named the MVP of the Midwest League.[16]

The Twins invited Lewis to spring training as a non-roster player in 2019.[17] He returned to Fort Myers to begin the 2019 season.[18] He was ranked the fifth-best prospect by MLB.com at the beginning of the 2019 season.[19] Lewis was named to the 2019 All-Star Futures Game.[20] In July, he was promoted to the Pensacola Blue Wahoos of the Double-A Southern League. Over 127 games between the two clubs, he slashed .236/.290/.371 with 12 home runs, 49 RBIs, and 22 stolen bases.[21] He was selected to play in the Arizona Fall League for the Salt River Rafters following the season.[22] Lewis was named the 2019 Arizona Fall League MVP.[23] Lewis did not play in a game in 2020 due to the cancellation of the minor league season because of the COVID-19 pandemic.[24]

On February 24, 2021, Lewis was diagnosed with an ACL tear and had surgery set for February 26. The injury required nine months of recovery, causing Lewis to miss the 2021 season.[25] He was selected to the 40-man roster following the season on November 19, 2021.[26]

Lewis made his MLB debut for the Twins on May 6, 2022. On May 13, Lewis hit his first career home run, a grand slam off of Cleveland Guardians reliever Bryan Shaw. He became the second player in Twins history to hit a grand slam for his first career home run, joining Danny Valencia.[27] Lewis appeared in 12 games for Minnesota, batting .300/.317/.550 with 2 home runs and 5 RBI. On May 29, Lewis suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee, the same knee in which he had suffered a torn ACL the year previous. Lewis elected to undergo season-ending surgery to repair the injury.[28]

On May 29, 2023, Lewis was activated from the injured list to make his return from injury. He was subsequently slotted into the lineup as the starting third baseman against the Houston Astros.[29] He became the first Twins player to hit a grand slam in each of two consecutive games when he connected off Chris Stratton in the sixth of a 13-inning 7–6 win over the Texas Rangers on August 27 and Xzavion Curry in the second of a 10–6 victory over the Cleveland Guardians the following night.[30][31]

Just eight days later, on September 4, he tied the Twins franchise record with his third grand slam of the season off Cleveland’s Lucas Giolito in the second inning, capping a 6-RBI performance. It took him just 56 games in the majors to reach the fourth slam of his career; that was the fewest games to reach four grand slams in MLB history, passing Rudy York (132 games, in 1938). On September 15, Lewis launched his fourth slam of the season, a second-inning blast off White Sox hurler, Jesse Scholtens, just 10 days since his previous grand slam, giving him four slams in an 18 game span, a new MLB record, passing Don Mattingly (39 games, in 1987). Lewis also became the first player in MLB history with five grand slams within his first 16 career home runs.[32][33][34] His fourth grand slam in 2023 broke the Twins' single-season grand slam record of three, previously held by five different Twins (Bob Allison, Rod Carew, Kent Hrbek, Kirby Puckett, & Torii Hunter).[35]

On September 22––the day the Twins clinched the AL Central––Lewis was placed on the 10-day injured list (IL) (left hamstring) retroactive to September 21. Lewis would not play again in the regular season. Despite having appeared in only 18 games in the season’s final month, Lewis’ slashing .313/.410/.612 with six homers and 23 RBIs earned him AL Rookie of the Month. On October 3, the Twins activated Lewis and immediately announced him to be in the starting lineup for game 1 of the Wild Card Series vs. the Toronto Blue Jays, at Target Field. Due to his recent IL stint, Twins manager, Rocco Baldelli, used Royce as a DH, slotting him in at the third spot in the batting order. In his first plate appearance, Lewis belted a 3-2 inside fastball off of Jays starter, Kevin Gausman, for a two-run homerun. In doing so, Lewis became the second Twins rookie since Scott Leius (game 2 of the 1991 World Series) to homer in his first career post-season game; though, at 24 years, 120 days old, Lewis was the youngest to do it since the franchise relocated to Minnesota in 1961. Just two innings later, in the 3rd, he went deep again his second plate appearance, sending a 3-1 Gausman fastball over the right-center wall. With this feat, Lewis became the second Twins player to hit multiple homers in a postseason game, joining Gary Gaetti (game 1 of the 1987 ALCS) and the 10th MLB rookie ever with a multi-homer postseason game. Lewis also joined Gaetti and Evan Longoria (2008) as the only players in MLB history to homer in their first two postseason plate appearances. The Twins went on to win game 1 of the wildcard series, 3-1, with all runs being off the bat of Lewis. In doing so, the Twins snapped an 18-consecutive post-season game loss streak, the longest in American "Big Four" sports history (MLB, NFL, NBA, and NHL), dating back to 2004.[36]

On October 11, in game four of the ALDS vs the Houston Astros at Target Field, Lewis hit a 1st inning homerun off José Uriquidy. This marked his fourth homer in just six 2023 playoff games, tying him with Kirby Puckett (1991) for the club record for most homers in a single postseason, and placed him right behind Kirby Puckett (5) in a second-place tie with Greg Gagne for the franchise’s total postseason homers, with four (five players had three, Gary Gaetti, Kent Hrbek, Harmon Killebrew, Tony Oliva, and Torii Hunter).[37]

References

  1. ↑ "Royce Lewis of JSerra is the L.A. Times high school baseball player of the year". June 11, 2016 – via LA Times.
  2. ↑ "TRINITY LEAGUE ATHLETE PROFILE: JSERRA'S ROYCE LEWIS". October 10, 2016.
  3. ↑ Sondheimer, Eric (August 14, 2016). "Baseball: Royce Lewis is MVP of Perfect Game All-American Classic" – via LA Times.
  4. ↑ "JSerra's Royce Lewis hopes to show MLB scouts he can play shortstop". dailynews.com. February 4, 2017. Retrieved March 12, 2019.
  5. ↑ "MLB.com 2017 Prospect Watch". Major League Baseball.
  6. ↑ Royce Lewis commits to UC Irvine – Orange County Register
  7. ↑ Sondheimer, Eric. "Royce Lewis of JSerra is the Gatorade state player of the year". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved March 12, 2019.
  8. ↑ Bollinger, Rhett (June 12, 2017). "Twins pick Royce Lewis No. 1 in 2017 Draft | Minnesota Twins". M.twins.mlb.com. Retrieved March 12, 2019.
  9. ↑ Kelly, Matt (June 17, 2017). "Twins sign, introduce top Draft pick Lewis". MLB.com. Retrieved June 17, 2017.
  10. ↑ "Ryan Vilade Stats, Highlights, Bio - MiLB.com Stats - The Official Site of Minor League Baseball". MiLB.com. Retrieved May 31, 2018.
  11. ↑ "Lewis' first homer keys Kernels comeback".
  12. ↑ "Royce Lewis Stats, Highlights, Bio | MiLB.com Stats | The Official Site of Minor League Baseball". MiLB.com. Retrieved August 28, 2018.
  13. ↑ "Top Twins prospect Royce Lewis promoted to Class A Fort Myers". Twin Cities. July 14, 2018. Retrieved August 28, 2018.
  14. ↑ "Pipeline 2018 midseason top prospect rankings". MLB.com. Retrieved August 28, 2018.
  15. ↑ "Royce Lewis Stats, Highlights, Bio - MiLB.com Stats - The Official Site of Minor League Baseball". MiLB.com. Retrieved October 12, 2018.
  16. ↑ "Minnesota Twins: Royce Lewis and Alex Kirilloff receive end of season awards". Puckett's Pond. August 21, 2018. Retrieved August 28, 2018.
  17. ↑ "Twins day at camp: Royce Lewis impresses but is sent down". Star Tribune. March 11, 2018. Retrieved March 12, 2019.
  18. ↑ "Twins' Royce Lewis: Back at High-A".
  19. ↑ "Breaking down the Top 100 Prospects list". Mlb.com. Retrieved April 15, 2019.
  20. ↑ Jim Callis (June 28, 2019). "Here are the 2019 Futures Game rosters". MLB.com. Retrieved June 28, 2019.
  21. ↑ "After season of adversity, top Twins prospect looks for a big year". Star Tribune.
  22. ↑ "Arizona Fall League rosters revealed". MLB.com.
  23. ↑ William Boor (October 26, 2019). "Gleyber, Acuña, Hiura ... now Royce Lewis". MLB.com. Retrieved October 27, 2019.
  24. ↑ "2020 Minor League Baseball season cancelled". mlb.com. Retrieved January 14, 2023.
  25. ↑ "Twins' Royce Lewis Requires Surgery to Repair Torn ACL".
  26. ↑ "Twins' Royce Lewis: Protected from Rule 5 draft".
  27. ↑ "'I'm young and I'm having fun': Lewis' first HR a grand slam". mlb.com. Retrieved February 7, 2023.
  28. ↑ "Twins top prospect Lewis tears ACL for second time". mlb.com. Retrieved February 8, 2023.
  29. ↑ "Twins' Royce Lewis: Starting at third base in '23 debut". cbssports.com. Retrieved May 29, 2023.
  30. ↑ Cook, Mike. "Rangers drop from AL West lead as Twins win 7–6 in 13 innings, overcoming 5-run deficit," The Associated Press (AP), Sunday, August 27, 2023. Retrieved August 28, 2023.
  31. ↑ Campbell, Dave. "Royce Lewis hits his 2nd slam in 2 days; Twins top the Guardians 10–6 for 7-game lead," The Associated Press (AP), Monday, August 28, 2023. Retrieved August 28, 2023.
  32. ↑ ESPN. “Twins rookie Royce Lewis hits third grand slam in 8 games,” ‘’ESPN’’, Monday, September 4, 2023. Retrieved September 15, 2023.
  33. ↑ ESPN. “Boxscore,” ‘’ESPN’’, Monday, September 4, 2023. Retrieved September 15, 2023.
  34. ↑ MLB. "Lewis makes Twins, MLB history with 4th grand slam of ’23,” ‘’MLB’’, Friday, September 15, 2023. Retrieved September 16, 2023.
  35. ↑ Twins Trivia. “Twins Trivia,” ‘’Twins Trivia’’, Thursday, September 5, 2013.
  36. ↑ Park, Do-Hyoung. "'He was born for this': Royce homers in first two postseason ABs". MLB.com. Retrieved October 7, 2023.
  37. ↑ "Royce's fourth homer matches Kirby for Twins' single postseason mark". MLB.com. Retrieved October 14, 2023.
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