Twins third baseman Royce Lewis exited Sunday’s spring training game due to a left hamstring strain. We’ll await further word as to severity and any time that might possibly be missed into the regular season, but it wouldn’t be surprised if he’s sidelined to start the year.
Lewis, 25, has a ton of talent and an extensive injury history. In 152 career MLB games, he’s hit .268/.327/.497 (126 OPS+) with 33 homers, 104 RBI and 3.4 WAR. It’s taken him three seasons to gather those 152 career games, though, and he’s dealt with injuries to his oblique, adductor, quad, hamstring and knee. In the latter case, he’s torn his right ACL twice.
If Lewis is to miss any time, Jose Miranda is the likely recipient in an uptick of playing time. In 121 games last season, Miranda hit .284/.322/.441 (112 OPS+), so he’s a capable replacement. He just doesn’t have the power upside of Lewis.
Lewis has already said his focus this season is playing as many games as possible.
“I’m not paying attention to the stats because they don’t really show you — sometimes they do — if you are playing well or bad,” Lewis recently told MLB.com. “You can go 0-for-4, hit four line drives at 120 miles an hour to the left fielder, center fielder and right fielder and one right at the pitcher, which means you are hitting it all over the place. If someone looks at your stats and they say, ‘0-for-4; oh, this guy sucks,’ that’s not the case.
“Those are the stats that I don’t want to look at. I want to look at how many games I played this year. I think that is important. If I do that, the numbers will take care of themselves. As long as you’re there and healthy and are able to help your team win, the number will be there.”
The Twins open the 2025 season in St. Louis against the Cardinals on Thursday, March 27.
