Minnesota Twins manager Rocco Baldelli hasn’t been able to get Royce Lewis into the lineup every day for a few years now, but when he has, the superstar third baseman has almost always made a big impact.
Despite his humble attitude that he’s happy just to be a major leaguer, Lewis is much more than that. He’s battled adversity and made multiple starts and substitution appearances throughout his career. He recently completed a rehab assignment with Triple-A St. Paul, going 4-for-23, but some have questioned what he’d bring to the lineup.
The answer is a per-game performance that would rank among the best in the history of the game.
In 14 games this season, Lewis has already hit eight homers — one in each half of a Father’s Day doubleheader against the Oakland Athletics and another on Wednesday night — and his OPS is an impressive 1.339. He’s amassed 1.4 fWAR so far, making him the Twins’ fourth-most productive hitter despite missing most of the season.
To get some idea of just how impressive this streak is, put the numbers on a 162-game pace and it’s staggering.
16.2 fWAR 93 HRs 23 DRs 139 RBIs
The pace at which Lewis makes solid contact is astounding, and while it’s clearly unsustainable, that doesn’t mean the percentages aren’t appealing.
42.1% of his hits have gone beyond the yard line, 16% of his at-bats have been home runs, and 14.0% of his at-bats have been home runs.
As a player who took the grand slam to a new level last season and further enhanced it with an exciting postseason run, Lewis is off to an explosive start in the 2024 season, returning from injury and picking up right where he left off. His 18.6% barrel rate is a career-high, bolstered by a career-best 46.5% hard-hit rate. He’s hitting drive (just under 29%) and whiffing (25.5%) at a manageable rate. He’s basically making pitchers play how he wants to and punishing them whenever he gets the chance. His strikeout-to-walk ratio looked a bit problematic early last season, but this year he’s been increasing his walks while avoiding strikeouts. Adjusted isn’t an adequate word to describe where the 25-year-old is at right now.
The Twins only got Lewis 58 games last season after he started late. He’s played nearly as many games this year as he did in 2022 before a torn ACL hit him. The only thing holding Lewis back at the highest level is injuries. If he could get on the field a little more often, he’d be one of the most unconventional MVP candidates in recent memory.
Despite all the twists and turns Lewis has experienced to get to this point, the fun he’s having now (and the results he’s producing) definitely make it all worth it.
