The Minnesota Twins had a tough weekend as a team, dropping two of three games to the Milwaukee Brewers in a series at Target Field. But as if a Wisconsin invasion wasn’t enough to spoil the mood of Twins fans, Royce Lewis’s performance didn’t do much to lift their spirits.
Lewis has been teetering on the brink of a demotion and his struggles reached a boiling point in the weekend series against the Brewers. In addition to going 2-for-11 at the plate and striking out six times, there were several mental gaffes that cost the Twins runs and may have earned him a demotion according to Dan Hayes of The Athletic.
“The reset button could be coming for Royce Lewis,” Hayes wrote on Sunday night. “Striking out more than ever in his career, Lewis is hitting only .133/.189/.191 with 25 whiffs in 68 at-bats since coming off the injured list April 21. Those struggles have continued even after the Twins gave Lewis two days off during their last trip, the slugger striking out 10 times in 30 appearances over his last eight games.
“...[Twins manager Derek Shelton] said Lewis’s lack of production isn’t for a lack of effort. …But the work isn’t translating, and Lewis rarely looks competitive in any of his current at-bats.”
Twins may be approaching an unfortunate reality with Royce Lewis
The Twins would love for Lewis to work out his kinks at the major league level. But last weekend’s series against the Brewers showed that may not be possible.
Lewis got a hit in Friday’s opener against the Brewers but was a net negative after an obstruction call in the top of the eighth inning. The call, which saw Lewis put his foot between the third base bag and Jackson Chourio, led to the umpires awarding Chourio home plate and led to Jake Bauers delivering the go-ahead double to give the Brewers a 3-2 victory.
On Saturday, Lewis went 1-for-4 at the plate, but struck out twice. In addition, an error on a routine chopper to third base allowed the Brewers to tie the game at 1-1 in the top of the fourth inning and eventually take the lead on a Chourio home run in the top of the sixth inning to hand the Twins a 2-1 loss.
While the Twins were able to salvage the series with a 5-4 victory on Sunday afternoon, Lewis struck out in each of his three at-bats before Trevor Larnach pinch-hit for him in the bottom of the eighth inning. This included a 10-pitch at-bat in the bottom of the first inning where he chased four pitches out of the strike zone, a three-pitch strikeout in the bottom of the third, and an at-bat in the bottom of the sixth where he failed to bunt twice before whiffing on the third pitch.
Shelton told reporters after Sunday’s game that Lewis has been working hard to fix his struggles. But it’s gotten to a point where the struggles at the plate are bleeding into his work on the field. While Orlando Arcia has been raking with Triple-A St. Paul, the Twins would need to clear a spot on the 40-man roster for him to be called up.
There’s also a risk with sending Lewis to the minors. With all the pressing he’s been doing in the majors, it could follow him to St. Paul as a player trying to do everything he can to get back to the Twins. Should that happen, Lewis could press more and the Twins would have an even bigger mess on their hands.
The Twins have rightfully let Lewis’s struggles play out in hopes that he could turn it around. But after last weekend, it’s reached the same boiling point that convinced the Twins to send down Matt Wallner. Like Wallner, a rebound wasn’t going to be possible at the major league level and it may be time to send Lewis down with hopes he finds himself at Triple-A.
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