Lewis notches hit in return -- and vows to 'keep fighting' injury risk

DETROIT -- Royce Lewis will settle for just being part of a Twins victory again -- but it’s hard for him and the Twins to ignore his ever-growing track record of homering in his first game back from extended absences, too.

That didn’t hold true on Friday, when Lewis was activated off the 10-day IL following his recovery from a right adductor strain that had sidelined him since July 2, which, fortunately for him, marked an absence of only three and a half weeks. But he did, indeed, get that victory out of the way, managing a single as part of the Twins’ 9-3 triumph over the Tigers.

“[Comerica Park is] a deep ballpark,” Lewis said. “Wrong place for me to play a first game and try to hit a homer.”

“He always does something,” manager Rocco Baldelli said. “You think that’s not going to happen, because you think it’s impossible, but he’s kept it up. We’ll see.”

Lewis’ recent first games back from extended absence:
May 29, 2023 at HOU (return from torn ACL): three-run homer, game-tying RBI single
Aug. 15, 2023 vs. DET (return from oblique strain): RBI single
Oct. 3, 2023 vs. TOR (playoffs, return from hamstring strain): two homers
March 28, 2024 at KC (return from offseason): homer, single
June 4, 2024 at NYY (return from quad strain): homer
July 26, 2024 at DET (return from adductor strain): single

Lewis and the Twins obviously hope that the budding star third baseman will have fewer opportunities to showcase his penchant for the dramatic in coming off the injured list, and he’s highly motivated to shove away the injury-prone tag that has followed him around for three years now as he has tried to establish a consistent foothold in the Major Leagues.

Obviously, it isn’t the performance that’s holding him back -- he entered Friday with a career .304 average and .945 OPS -- and he’s trying to learn from these frequent injury absences to put himself in the best position to succeed, too.

“I've changed my diet around multiple different times,” Lewis said. “I pay money to keep my body intact: I do the extra massages. I do all the stuff off the field that takes time away from my family and friends. There's not much else I can really do at this point other than keep fighting through it. I'm not made of glass.”

Lewis said that, in his discussions with the training staff, there was some sentiment that some aggravation of his lower half was almost to be expected, with his body continuing to accommodate the trauma of the two ACL repair surgeries on his right leg in a two-year span.

One thing he has gathered from this experience, he has said before, is to be more proactive about reporting such discomfort and more minor issues to Baldelli and the training staff so they can be proactive in order to avoid the more serious, extended absences. In that vein, Lewis was encouraged by how he only missed the three weeks this time around.

The Twins’ roster situation is in a good place to help Lewis with that, too.

Once Jose Miranda (back tightness) presumably also returns from the IL on Saturday, the Twins will nominally have three third basemen on the roster (Lewis, Miranda and Brooks Lee, and that’s not to mention the hyper-versatile Willi Castro).

Lewis’ sole defensive focus will remain at the hot corner, Baldelli said, to keep him on a consistent routine. But with all the third-base depth around him, that could open up far more DH days for Lewis, which Baldelli is hopeful will help keep the general wear and tear off Lewis’ lower half to help preserve his running ability.

“With anyone that deals with muscle injuries, muscle fatigue is at least part of the conversation,” Baldelli said. “Everyone’s body handles things differently. So being able to limit some of that workload -- we want him to stay strong, we want him to be able to post every day. And the best way to do that is at DH.”

Lewis would love to play more defense, but at this point, as long as he’s just on the field, he’ll be thrilled to play with his team.

“I always try to have fun with life, because life can be hard sometimes,” Lewis said. “Obviously, I've been through the worst of it. I just enjoy being around the ballpark. That's all I try to do: Have fun being around the ballpark each and every day that I'm able to be around it. And that's what I'm going to do again today.”