It’s been 57 days since Minnesota Twins fans last saw Royce Lewis play baseball, but it appears that is about to change.
Lewis left after three innings on Opening Day with a right quad strain, which has kept him out of action and complicated the Twins’ plans this season. It’s been an up-and-down season, with a 12-game winning streak sandwiched between two losing streaks of five or more games, and while things have stabilized, the squad still feels underperforming.
Part of this is due to the absence of a significant player from the roster. Lewis smashed a home run in his first at-bat of the season, signalling what many observers saw as the beginning of an MVP campaign, and Minnesota has been missing him ever since.
However, the wait may soon come to an end.
Royce Lewis is beginning a rehab assignment in St. Paul as the first step in his return to the Twins.
Lewis has been gently working his way back over the last two weeks, but he has yet to begin baseball activities on the field. Friday was always going to be a watershed moment for him in terms of assessing how far ahead in his rehabilitation he is, and it turns out he’s on the right road.
Things looked fine when Lewis was examined on Friday, and he will begin a rehab assignment with the St. Paul Saints next week. That means Lewis could be returning to the Twins lineup soon.
There is still a lot of work to be done before Lewis can return to the MLB roster, but we’re getting close. We’ll see how things go in St. Paul, and there’s no reason to rush him back before he’s fully prepared, but this is a huge step forward.
Lewis was initially expected to be sidelined until the All-Star Break, but it now appears that he may return much sooner. A return in June corresponds to the timing of his beginning his rehab assignment next week, with the expectation that he will spend at least a week or two with the Saints shaking off the rust and confirming that he is ready to return.
The Twins don’t need to rush Lewis back and risk him suffering another injury. If the club is comfortable sending him to St. Paul right now, he appears to be making good progress in his rehabilitation. However, until he returns to the lineup at Target Field, it is prudent to proceed with caution.
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