Lewis feeling optimistic in progression from hamstring injury

MINNEAPOLIS -- He’s probably still several weeks away from Major League games, but Royce Lewis is feeling better and progressing well from the moderate left hamstring strain he suffered in Spring Training. Lewis has been doing baseball activities for about a week and began his running progression on Saturday.

“It’s coming along good,” a cheerful Lewis said Sunday morning in the dugout at Target Field. “We’re running. Any time they let me do something, it’s always pretty good.”

Lewis is known for his enthusiasm and optimism. It’s probably at least a few weeks before he even begins playing in rehab games, never mind for the big league club. But it’s better to have him feeling good and progressing than not.

“It's a hamstring strain,” said Twins president of baseball and business operations Derek Falvey. “So where it's going to show up the most is in the running, in the running progression. The fact that he's going back-to-back days now, I think, is a real positive. And he'll continue to progress. He's feeling good. He's Royce. He's going to put the smile on his face, say he's feeling great. And sometimes we have to slow that down. That's OK. But he's doing OK. So we'll keep progressing.”

It's the second straight year that Lewis has suffered a significant muscular injury running the bases early on. Last year he missed two months due to a right quadriceps strain he suffered on Opening Day. Lewis put in extensive work over the offseason in hopes of preventing a similar injury, and he still was felled before the season even started.

“I think that he's doing everything he can to get himself back and put himself in a good position, as he did this offseason to get into the spring,” said Falvey. “That's what made the issue, when it popped up, so disappointing.”

As for on the field, Lewis said he doesn’t think there are changes he can make to how he plays to prevent future injuries.

“I think just play the game, man,” he said. “I’ve only made it here because of who I am. I’m not going to change who I am, you know what I mean? If I start changing who I am, then I think as a player, I’ll start diminishing my value, and what I do is very special. I think everyone’s able to see that, and I think that’s why everyone’s so mad that I keep getting hurt. People want to see me out on the field.”

A step for Lee

Lewis is not the only injured Twins infielder making progress. Brooks Lee, who suffered a low back strain later in Spring Training, began a rehabilitation assignment at Single-A Fort Myers on Sunday. He started at shortstop for the Mighty Mussels, with a plan to play seven innings.

The club should have a better sense of when Lee might be active by the end of the week.

“He'll continue to progress as we go over the course of the week,” Falvey said. “Usually with these, I think we have a better sense of what the next steps are after you have those three, four games under your belt, so we'll see how that tracks this week.”