It took less than three full innings for the Minnesota Twins to encounter a potential nightmare scenario on Opening Day.
Royce Lewis exited Thursday's game against the Royals in the third inning after coming up limping while rounding second base on a Carlos Correa RBI double. It was the worst kind of chaser to the way Lewis had started the game, as he hit a home run in the first inning and got on base with a single in his next at-bat.
The injury comes on the heels of the Twins losing four other players from the 26-man roster to injuries. Caleb Thielbar, Jhoan Duran, and Justin Topa all hit the IL retroactive to March 25th, while Anthony DeSclafani is starting the season on the 60-day IL.
Now Lewis, one of Minnesota's most important players, has been added to the heap.
Latest Royce Lewis injury update after leaving Opening Day
Updated 3/30, 12:04 pm CT -- The Twins officially placed Royce Lewis on the IL with a 'severe quad strain', but he's expected to miss a lot more time than that. Derek Falvey said that the team will assess where Lewis is at in about a month, which means we're unlikely to see him again until at least May.
It wasn't initially clear what forced Lewis out of the game, other than he had hurt himself, but the Twins soon clarified that it was a right quad injury. That's better than a nightmare scenario of something more serious -- especially given Lewis' injury history -- but it's still less than ideal.
Royce Lewis left today's game with a right quad injury, Twins say. More to come after the game.
— Betsy Helfand (@betsyhelfand) March 28, 2024
What happens next all depends on the grade of the injury. If it's a a grade 1 strain then it might only sideline Lewis for a week but anything more serious and we could be dealing with upwards of a month and a potential trip to the IL.
It sounds like we won’t know the full extent of the injury until this weekend. Lewis gave an update himself after the game, noting that the injury feels like a cramp that won’t got away.
The always positive Royce Lewis was upbeat again even though he’s waiting to hear the results of an MRI on his right quad.
— DanHayesMLB (@DanHayesMLB) March 28, 2024
He described it as a cramp. No word yet on severity of the injury. #MNTwins pic.twitter.com/SNUUM3oGyB
That would still be better than losing him for the season, but we've seen what happens to the Twins lineup when Lewis isn't in it and that's not the way anyone wants to start the season. Aside from that, the fact that another Twins superstar seems to be fighting an endless battle with injuries is painfully on-brand for the team.
Keep in mind that Lewis needed to be taken out of the game just two innings after Byron Buxton returning to the field for the first time in over 500 games. It's also worth mentioning that top prospect Brooks Lee likely won't be called up if Lewis misses extended time because he's also dealing with an injury that will probably sideline him for a few weeks.
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