Royce Rolls

 

It's maddening that the Minnesota Twins, in the past decade, have been blessed with two excellent draft picks that have blossomed into excellent MLB players, and neither of them have been able to stay healthy.

I saw Byron Buxton taking reps prior to the season in Florida, and I was impressed with just how powerful he is even at rest, and how great of an athlete he is. And I thought that if he hadn't picked the same time every year to get injured, he'd be a cemented MLB-class hitter. The stats have been there, the power has been there, but he's 29, DHing, barely hitting for average and still missing 80 games per year. As good as Buxton is at this game, he's not the full player he was touted to be, and it's a reality the Twins are facing as they prepare for another postseason they will potentially have to play without him.

And then there's Royce Lewis, their #1 pick the last time they finished last. On one hand, Royce Lewis is hitting .316 with 11 home runs and 39 RBIs in 46 games, and he's been the Twins' most powerful figure of the second half. On the other...it's been six years since they drafted him and he's still a rookie.

And yes, there's some unprecedented things you have to keep in mind with Lewis. In a perfect world, he'd be up in the majors in 2020 and a veteran by now. But thanks to the suspension of the minors in '20, a major injury in 2021, and another major injury within DAYS of coming up in 2022, Royce Lewis is JUST NOW getting to become a consistent performer for the Twins. Sometimes you have to chalk it up to rotten luck. It's not like Tim Beckham where for years he just wasn't ready, or like Mickey Moniak where it just took him a little longer to develop. Lewis was ready, as he's shown this year. The worst shit just kept happening.

But now that Lewis can actually help the Twins, he's getting the love he's deserved. He's had all of these grand slams recently, which is a very nice trend to get them on the side of the fans. It's also coming as so many Twins hitters, including Max Kepler, Matt Wallner, Edouard Julien, Jorge Polanco and Christian Vazquez finally snap into place and start hitting finally. The pitching has always been the perk of this Twins team, but now the hitting, led by Lewis, is finally impressing people.

With Royce Lewis playing as well as he is, the Twins finally look like the playoff team they've been guaranteed to be for a while. Here's hoping they stay this strong going forward.

Coming Tonight: He was gone for a while, but now that he's back his team's looking even better heading into a tough divisional battle.