Minneapolis – It felt like the Minnesota Twins would eventually demote Royce Lewis to Triple-A. However, they made it official on Tuesday morning, optioning him to the St. Paul Saints, calling up veteran infielder Orlando Arcia to take his place, and designating reliever Justin Topa for assignment to make room for Arcia on the 40-man roster.
Royce Lewis, who will turn 27 on June 5, has had a down season in 2026. He put up a .163/.261/.279 slash line with just three home runs, 13 RBI, 12 walks, and 37 strikeouts in 119 plate appearances.
The strikeouts had been especially alarming lately. Lewis owned a 5.4% walk rate and 33.8% strikeout rate over 74 plate appearances since his return from a left knee sprain on April 21.
“Those are always really tough decisions, a lot of conversations, a lot of viewpoints went into that, but I think the reality is as we work through it and try to think through what’s best for Royce and for the organization,” Twins GM Jeremy Zoll said regarding Lewis’s demotion.
“Giving him that reset in Triple-A to hopefully get him going and get that confidence back is what’s best. A lot of season left, so hopeful that we can accomplish that in short order here down in St. Paul.”
Having a conversation with a player about demoting them to the minors is never easy. That was the case for Royce Lewis after Monday night’s 6-3 Twins victory over the Astros. He met with Zoll and manager Derek Shelton. Although it’s not a conversation either of them has had before, there was some added weight to it, given Lewis’ impact on the major league squad in the previous season.
“I think he was disappointed, I mean, anybody that gets optioned is disappointed,” said Shelton. “I think that would probably be the way to describe it. There was no disagreement in terms of, you know, like saying, ‘Hey, I don’t think you should do this.’ He was respectful, but he was disappointed.”
“It’s players’ dreams, players’ livelihoods,” said Zoll, “and all those going back to my time as farm director, whether it’s a release of someone that only played in A-ball to all the way through, the sensitivity to the weight of all these decisions is real, but certainly the moments Royce has had for this franchise, what he’s meant at various points, yeah that adds a layer of challenge.”
With the front office and major-league coaching staff in agreement that they were serving Royce Lewis best by playing him in Triple-A St. Paul, they’re hoping the reset will prove to his benefit long-term.
The strikeout increase was a contributing factor, especially after having 12 strikeouts in his first 12 games compared to 25 over his last 19. When a player is in a slump like that, the mental struggle can be just as important to overcome as improving his performance. Having less pressure mounting on him in the Saints lineup will hopefully alleviate the struggles he’s been dealing with mentally, as he shared with reporters in Washington, D.C. two weeks ago.
“Is it a mental thing? Yeah, probably in some respect when you’re struggling at the major league level,” said Shelton. “This is not just for Royce’s case, but any player [who] is struggling at the major league level. Mentally, you need to go down there and have some success because of the fact [that] if you’re not doing that, it will weigh on you.”
“We also know there’s a really good player in there that’s had a ton of great moments for this organization, and I think there still are more to come here,” said Zoll. “So, building back that confidence and finding the mechanical adjustments given that time in Triple-A, I think, will be really valuable.”
Justin Topa DFA’d
With Arcia replacing Lewis’s role on the active roster, the Twins DFA’d Topa to make room for him on the 40-man. Topa, 35, had been struggling throughout May, having allowed 12 earned runs on 13 hits, four walks, and struck out just four batters over 5 ⅓ innings in six appearances.
Topa pitched in Monday night’s 6-3 win and had allowed all three runs on three hits and a walk to the Astros. He leads the Twins in relief appearances with 23 on the year, and with him being a great presence in the clubhouse, it made it a hard conversation for Shelton to have with a clubhouse favorite among his players.
“In Topa’s case, when it’s a DFA, it’s even more challenging,” said Shelton. “No. 1, because you know that person is probably not going to be in the organization anymore. And then, second, just the human being that Justin Topa is and the professional that he is. Yeah, it was extremely challenging. I think he’s somebody who’s going to be missed in our clubhouse.”
