Minnesota Twins Injury News: What We Know About Royce Lewis
Here is what Royce Lewis and Rocco Baldelli said about the injury suffered by the Minnesota Twins infielder on Opening Day.
UPDATE: March 30th
Royce Lewis was placed on the injured list on Saturday, with what is being described as a “serious quad strain”. The timeline for his return is not very clear right now, but reports indicate it could take up to two months for him to get back.
Original Story:
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Minnesota Twins won the season opener on Thursday in Kansas City, thanks in part to a a first-inning home run from Royce Lewis. However, it was what happened in the third inning to Lewis that had Twins fans concerned heading into the team’s off day on Friday.
Following a third-inning single, Lewis was going from first to third on a Carlos Correa base hit when he went into third base with a limp. After talking with the Twins training staff and manager Rocco Baldelli, Lewis left the game with what was later described as a right quad injury.
After the game, which the Twins won by a 4-1 score, Lewis seemed upbeat, saying that the injury felt more like a “cramp” even hours after suffering it.
Baldelli said after the game that Lewis had received an MRI but there was no timetable or update. With the Twins and Royals having an off day on Friday, Lewis is expected to receive treatment for the injury and will hope to be back in the lineup on Saturday afternoon.
“We’re going to take some time, evaluate it (the MRI) and see how he’s doing,” Baldelli said. “Obviously, a very difficult situation seeing him come off the field like that. He just continues to produce and produce. It’s pretty amazing actually to come out here and start the season like that (2-for-2), but we’re going to assess him and we’ll probably have an update in the next day or two.”
Lewis added that he felt the initial pain after rounding second base.
“After I hit the base, it was one of those next few steps,” Lewis explained. “I was ready to look to Tommy (third base coach Tommy Watkins) and be like, ‘I’m scoring,’ not moreso looking to Tommy as if I was going to. I knew I was scoring in my head. Then I felt a little cramp, a little grab.”
Lewis said that he did think he could stay in the game after reaching third base, giving hope to Twins fans that Lewis can return on Saturday.
“It felt like a cramp, so I thought maybe if we give it a couple of minutes. But they said, ‘A couple of minutes? We have to go now,'” Lewis said. “I think it was a smart move to make the pull just because I probably wasn’t going to be able to run and score in that situation if we needed to.”
Lewis said he was “looking forward” to getting with the Minnesota medical team on Friday and learning the results of the MRI and figuring out next steps.
The 24-year-old infielder played in just 58 games last season, suffering from an oblique strain in July and August and a hamstring issue in September. He has also had a pair of ACL injuries that have limited his ability to be a factor for the Twins, a team that has benefitted from just 280 at-bats from him over the past two campaigns.
We will have the latest on Lewis during the off day here in Kansas City on Friday and also at pregame media sessions before Saturday’s second game of the series.
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A member of the Baseball Writers Association of America (BBWAA), Kevin Henry has been covering MLB and MiLB for nearly two decades. Those assignments have included…