Twins' Royce Lewis injury news is brand new yet feels expected

Royce Lewis has an injury.

Minnesota Twins fans can't be surprised.

It's the routine with Lewis at this point. The one-time top prospect has performed admirably at times and struggled at others in the big leagues, but the enduring narrative is that he keeps getting hurt.

That remained the narrative on Thursday. Lewis was in the Twins' Spring Training lineup until he wasn't.

The Athletic's Dan Hayes wrote on X that "Lewis experienced tightness on right side after running the bases pregame." He was scratched from the lineup "out of abundance of caution."

That at least makes it sound like this won't be a long-lasting injury for Lewis, but it's certainly not a good sign.

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Twins fans have come to expect this because it's what Lewis does. He gets hurt.

In 2023, he played 58 games. In 2024, it was 82. Last season, Lewis got into 106 contests.

Those are all seasons that go up to 162 games, and Lewis hasn't come close to a full campaign yet.

A year ago, he hit 13 home runs and had a .671 OPS, both worse totals than the two prior years. Lewis did steal 12 bases, about the only uptick in his statistics across the board.

He's still just 26 years old and is a former No. 1 overall pick. The Twins aren't giving up on Lewis.

It'd just feel a lot more likely that he's going to bounce back this season if he could actually stay on the field. But expecting that out of Lewis at this point is probably too much.

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