Minnesota Twins fans would rather be living in the world they were two years ago. The Twins were on the way to an AL Central division title and ending an 18-game postseason losing streak. Carlos Correa was taking charge as the team leader, and Royce Lewis looked unstoppable.
Lewis’s home run barrage, 15 dingers in 58 games to be exact, continued with two more in the first game of a Wild Card series against the Toronto Blue Jays. For a team that seemed to be cursed, Lewis seemed to be the cure. However, that hasn’t been the case recently.
The world Twins fans live in now is much different. Correa was one of 10 players at the trade deadline. Instead of sitting atop the division, they’re trending closer to the best odds for the No. 1 pick in next year’s draft. The Pohlads still own the team after putting it up for sale, and many are wondering what happened to Lewis.
Minnesota wants him to change his swing, but Lewis says it’s hard to make the in-season adjustments. Fans are left in the middle, wondering who is in the right. While it sets up what could be an entertaining exit meeting in a few weeks and a tense arbitration hearing, both sides need to figure it out to save their potential superstar and the franchise’s direction.
The comments stem from this past weekend when Lewis snapped out of his latest slump. Since Minnesota’s fire sale, Lewis is hitting .175/.254/.302 with one home run and nine RBI in 19 games. However, Lewis had his best game of the year on Saturday, going 3-for-5 at the plate with a grand slam and a stolen base. Lewis even threw out a runner at the plate in the 9-7 victory over the Chicago White Sox.
The biggest question for Lewis after the game was what woke up the superstar that had been dormant for most of the past two seasons. Lewis said he’s been trying to do the same thing he’s been doing since he arrived in the majors in 2022.
“It’s also hard to make a full in-season adjustment because you can try that, and those 30 games or at-bats of trial go towards your stats,” Lewis said. “Do you really want to sacrifice that? And if it doesn’t work, you go back to what you were doing before.”
Lewis even mentioned Atlanta Braves outfielder Michael Harris II, who was hitting .210/.234/.317 with six homers, 44 RBI, and 12 stolen bases while using a new batting technique in the first half before going back to his old swing at the All-Star Break. In 34 games since the Midsummer Classic, Harris is hitting .360/.373/.676 with 10 homers and 24 RBI.
Fortunately for Harris, he already signed an eight-year, $72 million contract extension in August 2022. But for a player like Lewis, who doesn’t have a long-term contract, changing his swing could have huge financial repercussions.
“Being under contract probably helps because he knows what he’s making that year and the year after,” Lewis explained. “For someone like me, I’m fighting for taking care of myself and my family. I don’t want to put any of those stats in jeopardy. I’m trying to do what’s best as fast as possible. But feeling like I’ve been on an island, it’s kind of tough.”
The Twins tried to negotiate a long-term contract with Lewis during Spring Training in 2024. But Lewis’s agent, Scott Boras, implores his clients to wait for free agency so they can get the biggest payday possible. That aside, Lewis hasn’t put up the stats to get paid. He’s only hit .233/.294/.422 with 24 home runs, 81 RBI, and two stolen bases over the past two seasons (156 games).
Lewis may point to the injuries he’s suffered, including a severe quad strain in 2024 and a severe hamstring injury this season. But the Twins would say Lewis hasn’t adjusted to major league pitching, and the data backs that up.
When Lewis broke into the majors, he crushed fastballs and breaking balls. According to Baseball Savant, pitchers threw Lewis a breaking ball on 36.4% of his pitches, resulting in a .270 batting average and a .461 slugging percentage. His numbers were even better on fastballs with a .343 average and .686 slugging percentage while seeing them 51.5% of the time.
But things changed over the past two seasons. Lewis is seeing more fastballs with a 52.6% rate in 2023 and a 58.6% rate in 2025. Lewis has struggled to hit the fastball, hitting .202 against the heater in 2024 and .209 in 2025, and slugging percentages of .434 in 2024 and .374 in 2025.
You can see why Minnesota wants Lewis to adjust. But you could see why Lewis may be reluctant to take their advice.
Two years ago, Lewis was part of a talented young core that also included Matt Wallner and Edouard Julien. While Wallner has a .796 OPS this season, he only has a .210 batting average, and is hitting .146/.317/.188 with runners in scoring position. Julien has experienced a more dramatic dropoff, hitting .199/.287/.321 in 137 major league games over the past two seasons. He’s only re-emerged at the major league level through the ashes of Minnesota’s fire sale.
Lewis can look at other things, such as Jose Miranda’s disappearing act, and wonder if the Twins know what they’re doing. If their advice fails him, he can’t go to the negotiating table with his exit velocity in hopes that he can get a few extra bucks out of an arbitration case. Still, Lewis’s current approach isn’t working, and he needs to take action.
Ultimately, both sides need to work it out. Lewis needs to make the adjustments necessary for sustained success in the majors. The Twins need to figure out what they’re doing that causes players to stall the moment they land in Minneapolis. A compromise could be enough to help Lewis find his superstar form and help the Twins prepare for the next wave that includes Walker Jenkins, Kaelen Culpepper, and others.
