3 Minnesota Twins who won't make the Opening Day roster but could still have an impact in 2023

Royce Lewis, SS

This is a little unfair to Lewis, but the fact of the matter is he almost certainly won't be on the Twins Opening Day roster. Lewis will be at Spring Training but he's still recovering from an ACL injury that prematurely ended his season in 2022 and will likely hit the 60-day IL once camp closes at the end of March.

Lewis is a comeback story waiting to happen. After two devastating ACL injuries derailed his ascension to the Twins lineup, this season is gearing up to finally be the one where fans get a good taste of what he can offer in the lineup.

One thing that immensely helped Lewis was the return of Carlos Correa. Without the pressure to step right into an everyday role at shortstop, Lewis can both take his time in recovering while both learning from Correa and testing his utility range.

Minnesota is rich with young shortstops who could succeed Correa, but Lewis was once looked at as the next in line. The Twins don't need any more outfielders either, for that matter, but Lewis has spent time with that unit as well and done so successfully. If he can bounce back from his ACL injury, there's absolutely a place for him on the roster and somewhere defensively. Think of him as a guy Joe Maddon would have fawned over in Chicago, not unlike how he used guys like Kyle Schwarber and Kris Bryant at the corner of the infield as well as the corner of the outfield.

If everything comes together for Lewis, he can be a true utility man for the Twins and have an impact all over the field in 2023. We still haven't yet gotten the completely healthy Royce Lewis experience -- and we won't get a full season of him this year -- but if he's in the lineup it's hard to see him not having an impact.