When assessing his recent injuries, Royce Lewis says rehabbing an injured knee is more painful, but recovering from his quadriceps injury hurts worse. The Minnesota Twins took Lewis first overall, and he’s been productive on the field. He’s a career .313/.369/.564 slash line and has good defensive metrics. However, he’s suffered two ACL injuries and tore his quad on opening day this year, limiting him to 71 games in three seasons.
Lewis said ACL surgery and rehab were painful, but recovering from the quad injury has been the most challenging experience in his career.
“Physically, obviously, when I get out of surgery on my knee, I’m crying, it hurts,” he said. “But, yeah, this is more mentally challenging because of the challenge is I feel great, I feel like I can go play, I can perform at a high level, but I’m not allowed to.
“So, I don’t feel like I’m being held back by any means. I feel like they’re taking the best care of me. But from what I feel, that’s hard for me to understand that. And that’s where the mental challenge comes in for the rehab.”
Lewis has always made baseball look easy. He got a hit in his first game and slashed .300/.317/.550 in 12 games as a rookie. He hit a grand slam for his first career home run. But Lewis missed the 2021 season with an ACL tear and re-tore it a year later, ending his rookie season early. He recovered and hit .309/.372/.548 in 58 games last season.
On August 28, he became the first Twins player to hit a grand slam in two consecutive games, and his four grand slams last year are a franchise record. Lewis hit home runs in his first two at-bats in the ALCS, and his four playoff home runs last year tied Kirby Puckett for the most in Minnesota history.
Lewis hit a home run in his first at-bat this season. He singled in his second at-bat and injured his quad rounding third trying to score on Carlos Correa’s double. “I was just confused,” Lewis said in reaction to the injury. “It honestly just felt like a little cramp.”
“He was just kinda talking as though he wasn’t immediately coming out of the game,” Baldelli said incredulously. “But with what we observed, and really, in addition to what he was saying, there was no real chance. He couldn’t run, so he’s not gonna be able to play.”
Lewis is learning how to balance hustle and health. He’s an explosive athlete who wants to be a plus defender but must be available to make an impact. Lewis has been on the field doing baseball activities, and Derek Falvey says he’s making progress.
“Royce is tracking in a pretty good direction,” said Falvey. “He had his MRI right around the time of the road trip. The MRI revealed he’s kind of at the return you’d expect him to be at this stage – no faster, no slower. Nothing has really changed.
“Moderate enough quad strain was going to take some time here. [Lewis has] progressed to the point where he’s swinging, he’s doing a little more work, he’s out on the field a bit more. You’re doing some more running and jogging and pushing to that next phase. I don’t have a specific timeline on rehab [or] return, but he is tracking in a good direction.”
Lewis is preparing to hit like he does before games, taking 80 swings in the cage without pain. He’s running, but the coaching staff limits him to 70 percent effort. Lewis also fielded 15 to 20 balls at third. “I would say I’m doing everything like a normal game,” he said, “except I can’t play the game.”
Two years ago, Lewis said he was surprised to get called up by the Twins as soon as he did. “I truly thought it was going to take a few more years,” he said. “To get the call and be so shocked and amazed, it’s truly a blessing.”
However, waiting for the medical staff to clear him has been excruciating.
“I am waiting for the call,” said Lewis. “This is more anticipation than my debut call. I’m waiting for the call to just go back out there to play. I feel like the hardest part about baseball, ever since I’ve been a part of it, unfortunately, has been the off-the-field issues where I have to rehab to get back on the field.
“Whenever I’m on the field, I have fun. I love the game. Feels like that’s the easier part of the game. The challenging part is staying healthy.”
Therein lies the most misfortunate part of Lewis’ situation. As easy as he makes baseball look, it’s that much more difficult for him not to play it.
