The Minnesota Twins were in a free fall last September and Royce Lewis was in the middle of it. An attempt to have Lewis fill in at second base during a game against the Tampa Bay Rays created a firestorm and the 25-year-old compared the situation to taking a baby out of its crib.
The Twins missed the playoffs and cooler heads prevailed. But while a report surfaced that Lewis took grounders at second base during the offseason, KSTP-TV’s Darren Wolfson pumped the brakes during an episode of SKOR North’s Minnesota Sports with Mackey and Judd on Thursday morning.
“I was with [Twins manager Rocco Baldelli] for an hour yesterday. …He made it clear to me, that Royce is taking more reps at third base this winter compared to second base,” Wolfson said. “He’ll take some second base reps during Spring Training. Royce just wants to know what the plan is. That game in Tampa came as a bit of a shock to Royce. Royce likes to prepare, prepare a ton. So he will get second base reps in Fort Myers but Rocco is very clear…he’s getting more reps right now at third base.”
SKOR North’s Declan Goff also stated the Twins want to empower Lewis after how last season ended and the plan to play him at second base isn’t a permanent change but one that gives Baldelli flexibility within his lineup.
“It was a tumultuous end to the season,” Goff said. “Royce was on the record of displeasures whether it came to moving to second, whether it came from…the lack of acquisitions [at the trade deadline]. I think this starts with Rocco…they don’t want to overwhelm Royce Lewis. So I even think this whole second base plan that they could mix him in, I actually feel it might be [Lewis] as your Opening Day third baseman and maybe he spells at second occasionally.”
Brooks Lee, Edouard Julien among Twins who may have to win a job in Spring Training
While Lewis’s position switch was a prominent rumor this offseason, the rest of the infield may be more of a question mark. Wolfson mentioned that when he discussed the Twins’ Opening Day lineup with Baldelli, he was stopped before he would only mention Pablo López as his starting pitcher, Byron Buxton in center field and Carlos Correa at shortstop.
One of the factors is improving the Twins’ offense, which ranked 11th in runs per game but was held to 3.4 runs per game in the final month of the regular season.
“He told me multiple times he is still bothered over what took place last September. Way more so on the offense.” Wolfson said. “He defended the bullpen. He defended the rotation. He told me it was all about the offense.”
Those comments make it seem like several young players could be on notice and Wolfson singled out Brooks Lee and Edouard Julien as two players that could be playing for jobs when the Twins report to Spring Training next month.
Lee made his major league debut in July but he struggled at the plate, hitting just .221/.265/.320 with three homers, 27 RBI and three stolen bases in 50 games. Julien also slumped after an impressive rookie season, hitting .199/.292/.323 with eight homers, 21 RBI and six stolen bases while spending a large chunk of the season in St. Paul.
While Lewis was also part of the slump, hitting .181/.245/.255 with one homer and seven RBI over the final month of the season, all three players will enter camp with some pressure as Wolfson hinted Baldelli could run a tighter camp than he has in year’s past.
“I’m telling you, Brooks Lee has to win a job in March. Eddie Julien has to win a job,” Wolfson said. “...I get the sense…it’s going to be a different type of camp in Fort Myers.”