The Minnesota Twins top prospect Royce Lewis continues to impress many with his play and was recently recognized for his incredible performance.
The Minnesota Twins took with their number one overall selection in 2017 shortstop Royce Lewis. At the time there was plenty of fuss around whether he was the right selection at number one and not what many accused the Twins of, simply trying to be “cheap.” The Twins weren’t being cheap (they still spent all their draft money and the most of any MLB team) and it looks like the Twins got a very good player.
Royce Lewis was selected to be a part of MLB Pipeline’s Prospect Team of the Week for his performance to close out the month of June. This past week in six games, Lewis slashed .500/.577/.850 scored eight runs, four doubles, a home run, eight RBIs and had three stolen bases. A pretty good week for the Twins top prospect.
That week was part of a June for Lewis in which he hit .330/.380/.604 and added five home runs, 10 doubles, and 22 RBIs. That brings the 19-year-old’s season line to .320/.366/.490 and a .857 OPS. Just over the weekend Lewis had two three-hit games in a row and hit a home run in the second of those on Saturday.
Lewis is also proving he can continue to handle the defensive demands of shortstop. Something that has been in question since draft night with many front offices and prospect evaluators believing that he would eventually end up moving to center field.
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I recently saw Lewis play in a couple rough games for the Cedar Rapids Kernels as they took on the Wisconsin Timber-Rattlers in early June. That included that game when Lewis mysteriously left the game with a leg injury. He had some rough moments in the field, but they were all on some strangely hit balls and ultimately he still looked very competent at the position.
It really is surprising at this point that Lewis hasn’t found himself promoted to Fort Myers joining former Kernels teammate Alex Kirilloff. There could always be some little mechanical nuance the Twins are waiting for Lewis to master or some other roster moves that may need to happen, but there is no question that Lewis looks ready to the many eyes.
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While the Twins major league club is falling down a hole and not giving fans much to cheer for. The Twins do have plenty of great performances currently at the minor league level. Lewis leads the way as he looks every bit deserving of that number one overall selection last season.