An absolute nightmare scenario for the Minnesota Twins played out at Great American Ballpark in Cincinnati on Tuesday night.
Rookie sensation Royce Lewis left Tuesday's win over the Reds in the top of the eighth inning after pulling up awkwardly on a swing. Lewis reached across the plate at a pitch and as he followed through appeared to have tweaked something but whatever it was didn't look good.
A trainer came out to take a look at Lewis, and our first sign that this was something bad was when it seemed to be rather immediately decided that he needed to exit the game.
It's unclear what exactly Lewis tweaked, but it wasn't the first time in the game on Tuesday that he came up lame. Earlier in the top of the sixth Lewis appeared to pull up gingerly while running out a ground ball at first.
He remained in the game after that, but it appears that the first incident might have contributed to what happened in the eighth.
Royce Lewis injury update after Twins rookie leaves game vs. Reds early
The first official word on what happened came from beat writer Do-Hyoung Park who noted that it was hamstring tightness that forced Lewis to exit early.
Not only did Lewis need to be taken out of the game, but the look of absolute despondence on his face made his early exit even worse.
Royce Lewis has exited the game after the training staff came out.#MNTwins pic.twitter.com/SW1cnRCzDF
— Bally Sports North (@BallySportsNOR) September 20, 2023
It's no secret how much Lewis has struggled with injuries during his short career. He has already torn his ACL twice, something that made his re-introduction to the team back in May such a special moment. Since being called back up, Lewis has by far been the most valuable player in the Twins lineup and has at times single-handidly carried the offense or provided a much-needed spark.
With stars like Byron Buxton and Carlos Correa struggling all season, Lewis has been the leader of a youth movement for Minnesota that has helped lift the team back into the postseason. Lewis was one of the players looking to be a key contributor to ending the maligned October Curse for the Twins, but now fans are being forced to hold their breath and hope that nothing serious has happened.