Royce Lewis made his first big league appearance at second base on Sunday afternoon. There’s been plenty of talk amongst the fanbase over whether Lewis or fellow highly-regarded infield prospect Brooks Lee would be the better long-term option at second base.
It’s a puzzle that manager Rocco Baldelli and the Minnesota Twins front office must put together carefully. It’s not just about the best positioning on the field but also ensuring everyone, including Lewis, is on board with any potential realignment. The Twins are trying to get the best team on the field not just for a potential playoff run but it also has potential long-term ramifications. Lewis would be a nice player at second base; it may be his long-term defensive position. However, the Twins should pause his full-time move over to the right side of the infield.
Lewis has never had a long-term positional home in the big leagues after being a full-time shortstop in the minor leagues. When the Twins first called him up, he was a shortstop prospect who moved over when Carlos Correa arrived in 2022. A disastrous center field debut kept Lewis entrenched at third base in 2023. In the heat of a playoff push, Minnesota is asking Lewis to move to a different position.
It’s not the first time the Twins have moved a player defensively during the regular season under Baldelli. In 2022, Luis Arraez moved over to first base. However, that happened early in the season with time to learn on the fly, and the team also needed someone to stand near first base due to Miguel Sano’s back injury that season. A season ago, the Twins moved Jorge Polanco from second base to third to accommodate Julien on the roster. Polanco was uncomfortable at the hot corner, with a -2 OAA and 5 errors in 15 games at third base.
Minnesota’s biggest reason for trying to test the waters with Lewis at second seems to be twofold. Baldelli loves positional flexibility, especially for late-game substitutions and defensive alignments. Having Lewis stuck to only one position makes it difficult to fully maximize the lineup’s talent. It could allow Lewis, Lee, and Miranda to be on the field simultaneously, which could be useful when the Twins face a left-handed pitcher. Extra flexibility would benefit the lineup when Correa re-joins the big league club.
The second reason is that second base may be the position Lewis calls his long-term defensive home anyway. Placing Lewis at third always felt temporary with Brooks Lee on his way to Minnesota. Lee is the better defender of the two.
Lewis has the better arm, with an 84.3 MPH average on his throws compared to Lee’s 81 MPH throws. However, Lee is more polished. He has a 1 OAA at third base with no errors at third base in 11 games played.
Even with a stronger arm, Lewis has had trouble throwing across the diamond in 2024. Lee was a shortstop through college and the minors, and his pedigree as the son of a Division-I baseball coach reinforces his reputation as a good defensive player. On paper, it makes sense to place Lee at third this season and Lewis at third, but not with all of the underlying factors.
It’s understandable, but there might be enough time to see this experiment fully through the rest of this season. The Twins are still trying to chase the Cleveland Guardians for the division title, and a good defensive alignment is important — but so is getting Lewis right at the plate.
Since his “I don’t do slumps” quote on June 20, Lewis went from a 262 wRC+ hitter with a .380 batting average through his first 14 games of the season to a 102 wRC+ with a .226 average. Since that point, Lewis has been a league-average hitter, and unlocking his top-tier bat again will be more important than anything he can do in the field.
A defensive change to second base would mean fewer high-pressure plays, but he would also have to spend time preparing and sharpening up at a new position. He will make his biggest impact at the plate, so having Lewis focus on staying consistent with the bat is in Minnesota’s best interest.
Adding an on-the-fly position swap and all of the work it takes behind the scenes to make that happen might put too much on his mind. Let him fully gear up at second base during the winter with a fresh slate, and in the short term, let him focus on getting back to the magic Lewis can make in the batter’s box.
Lee is the more polished defender, which means his long-term future will likely be at a more demanding position like third base. In the short term, it’s a good argument for stashing him temporarily at second base. Since college, Lee has played 320 games at shortstop, with just 24 games at third base and only 10 games at second base.
Moving Lee over to the right side of the infield would also be a realignment. However, he’s a well-rounded defender who has played much more baseball in his life than Lewis. Lee will be better suited to briefly adjust to second base for the rest of the season. While having a high floor as a hitter, Lee still works his way through his rookie season.
José Miranda is a crucial factor in this equation. He can’t move over to first because Carlos Santana has played well there, and the Twins like to rotate players through as the designated hitter. Miranda is in his best big league season with a .299/.339/.466 slash line and a career-high 127 wRC+.
However, like his rookie season, young players often wear down. Since August 4, Miranda is slashing .239/.269/.341 with just 70 wRC+. Miranda can still be a part of Minnesota’s postseason plans, but it might not be worth completely re-shuffling things on the fly just to keep him at third base, where he is a -5 OAA in 2024. Platooning at DH with someone like Trevor Larnach might be the better route.
Can the Twins move Lewis to second base on the fly with just weeks to go until the playoffs? Of course, it could. Second base isn’t an “easy” defensive position, but it’s the most forgiving compared to shortstop and third base because of the shorter throws to first base. Lewis is a uniquely talented player. Moving a guy this late in the season with little preparation opens the door for something potentially going sideways. Lee is the more polished infielder out of the group.
Even if you’re not squeezing the most value out of a defensive alignment, everyone is in a comfortable role. The Twins maximized value with Polanco at third base in 2023, and it was a bumpy ride. Thanks to Brooks Lee’s versatility, they are much more flexible to play guys around the field.
Royce Lewis has been an excellent third baseman for the Twins over the past few seasons. A full-time move to second base is not an indictment against Lewis but an endorsement of some players with better infield trajectories at the hot corner. Whether it’s because of Lewis or Lee or because of opening opportunities for other players like Miranda to get into the lineup, Lewis may end up being Minnesota’s second baseman in 2025 and beyond. But he needs to stay at third base this year.
