NEW YORK — Lois Lewis celebrated her 25th birthday on Wednesday by strolling through Central Park with her family and checking off another item on her tourist checklist.
Then he did something Royce Lewis would do: He hit a home run.
Ruiz hit a solo home run to left field off New York Yankees relief pitcher Dennis Santana in the seventh inning on Wednesday, becoming the first player in Twins history to homer in each of the first three games of a season.
“His production coming back from that long break has been just phenomenal,” Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said.
Arizona Diamondbacks outfielder Lourdes Gurriel Jr. has homered in each of the season’s first three games. The last player to homer in each of a season’s first four games was Milwaukee’s Christian Yelich in 2019. Lewis has already become the first player in Twins history to reach base in each of his first five at-bats of a season, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.
That can’t be made to look easy for a player who has played fewer than 80 games over the past three years and missed significant time with injuries.
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“When he’s playing, he’s unbelievable,” Twins catcher Ryan Jeffers said. “I think everybody’s excited to see what a healthy Royce Lewis can do. Everybody’s hoping he stays healthy and doesn’t have any more issues.”
Lewis attributes his success to “staying within myself” and trying not to lose focus on any pitch.
“A lot of the time I do that when the lights are a little brighter,” Lewis said. “I like playing here. I’m well fed and they do all the good things to make me comfortable, so I’m grateful.”
Lewis first spoke with Aaron Judge in Tuesday’s series opener as Judge reached third base in the third inning.
“I just told him to stop hitting all these home runs,” Lewis said. “He told me every time he saw me play, he was going to hit a home run.”
5 Prospects in the Top 100
Baseball America released its latest Top 100 Prospects list on Wednesday, and five Twins players were on the list.
Centerfielder Walker Jenkins (7th overall), centerfielder Emmanuel Rodriguez (16th) and shortstop Brooks Lee (45th) have all been named to the top 50 prospects since the offseason. Jenkins and Lee have missed most of the season with injuries, but the 21-year-old Rodriguez is batting .473 with eight home runs, 20 RBIs and roughly the same number of walks (42) and strikeouts (46) in Class AA in 36 games.
Recent additions to the Top 100 list include second baseman Luke Keischal (66th), a second-round pick in last year’s amateur draft, and right-handed starting pitcher Zebby Matthews (100th). Both were recently promoted to AA Wichita. In his first 51 games, Keischal is batting .328 with seven home runs, 23 RBIs and 15 stolen bases for a .443 on-base percentage.
Matthews, an eighth-round pick in the 2022 draft, posted a 1.58 ERA with 55 strikeouts and two walks in 45⅓ innings across eight starts.
etc.
* After a rainout, Brooks Lee made his season debut for the Class AAA St. Paul Saints on Wednesday. Edouard Julien, who was demoted to make way for Lewis on the Twins’ roster, homered in the first inning against the Syracuse Mets.
