Energized by struggles, Royce Lewis works to get back on track: ‘Everyone slumps'

New York Times

2 days ago

WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Though he's hitless his last 30 at-bats and was pinch hit for in a key spot a day earlier, Royce Lewis remains upbeat and focused.
Out of the lineup on Monday night, the Twins' third baseman said he's concentrating on not over-swinging the bat or thinking too much about his slump. The production — he's batting .127/.195/.197 with one homer in 77 plate appearances — is far from what Lewis envisioned when he worked throughout the offseason to rediscover the star form he lost down the stretch last season.
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But Lewis recognizes slumps will happen. And for those of you who love to mock the statement he previously made about how he mentally handles slumps — 'I don't do the slump thing' — Lewis isn't afraid to admit he's in the middle of one.
'What I was trying to say mentally was I don't go into 'I'm 0-for-20 whatever,'' Lewis said. 'I go into today thinking, 'It's Luis Severino. I've faced him in the past. I feel good. I know his sinker and his four-seam.' And that's my mindset. That's what I was trying to say. So I'll say it: I slump. A lot of people slump. Everyone slumps. Hopefully, I play long enough I slump 100 more times. That's my goal. I'm very excited to keep pushing through and have another opportunity.'
Lewis is working hard to prepare himself for the next chance.
He arrived at Sutter Health Park and took early batting practice on the field with his hitting coaches. Then he waited for the players in Monday's lineup to hit indoors and worked around their schedules. Later, he took on-field batting practice with his teammates. Much of the work is focused on his stride and remaining grounded, hitting coach Matt Borgschulte said. Lewis also noted he's trying to get back on track mentally.
'He was in here hitting some challenging shapes and some good stuff to make sure he's staying on the ball as much as he can,' Borgschulte said. 'Staying grounded in his legs. Getting back to the step where he's kind of in rhythm with it. I'm excited to see how things progress. All we can do is continue to put in good work and hope that the results will continue to get better. With a guy with that much talent, it's just a matter of time before things start going his way.'
The Twins believe things will turn for Lewis and cite statistical evidence to suggest it should. His 90.2 mph exit velocity is above his career average and up three miles per hour from last season, when Lewis endured the first real slump of his career. Lewis's 15.6 percent strikeout rate is the lowest of his career, and his pitch selection has never been better.
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The Twins aren't oblivious to his slump. They recognize their young slugger is off.
But they also can look at his unseemly .138 batting average on balls in play, which is 157 points below his career mark entering the season, and know some course correction is due.
'He's had a couple off days in there, and I think those are good to be able to get those resets and dig in a little bit more deeply with the coaching staff to just get going here,' general manager Jeremy Zoll said. 'I'm very confident that there's still an elite player in there, and there are brighter days probably right around the corner for him.'
Twins manager Rocco Baldelli is encouraged to hear the honest quote from Lewis about slumps. He likes the way Lewis is working. He's even more pleased with how Lewis handles himself during a trying time, including being pulled back for a pinch hitter down a run late in Sunday's loss to Seattle (Lewis said he wasn't offended and rooted for Brooks Lee).
'When you're dealing with struggles, looking at them straight on is a good thing,' Baldelli said. 'I'm glad that in some ways he's looking at it like that, because the next step is, what do you do about it? And the next step is attack it with work, and we're at that point now, and that's where he is, and that's where I want him to be.'
Ideally, Lewis would prefer hitting fourth and attempting to assault the area beyond the fences at the A's temporary home, which already is known to be hitter-friendly. For the time being, he's focused on righting himself.
Lewis physically feels great. His slump isn't preventing him from enjoying the Twins' winning ways and the lifestyle. He's unclear why his average bat speed is down more than two miles per hour from the 2023 season, one of the biggest drops in the majors.
But he's seen enough players go through slumps — and feels prepared to battle this one after bouncing back from multiple severe injuries — to think he won't recover.
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'If anything, right now I'm over-swinging,' Lewis said. 'I'm swinging way too hard, and then it feels like your head starts bouncing up and down, and you start missing pitches you normally want to hit. I'm trying to slow it down a little bit. … I've overcome all those (injuries). It gives me the peace of mind that this is just baseball. Hitters go through this. It's very normal. It's something I'm going to overcome again.'
One prominent Twins prospect is ready to come off the injured list, while another is headed for the sidelines.
Zoll confirmed Emmanuel Rodriguez, whom The Athletic's Keith Law rated the No. 21 prospect in January, could miss anywhere from two to four weeks with a right hip strain he felt when chasing down a fly ball in Omaha on Friday night.
Rodriguez is batting .232/.400/.392 with four homers in 160 plate appearances this season.
Meanwhile, Walker Jenkins, whom Law rated the No. 4 prospect, was set to return to action for the first time since April 6, but his team's Florida Complex League game was rained out. After playing in two April games, Jenkins has missed nearly two months with a sprained ankle he originally suffered before minor-league spring training began.