Royce Lewis out of lineup as Twins fall to Rockies again, works to rediscover swing

New York Times

20-07-2025

DENVER — Two years ago, pinch hitting for Royce Lewis in a key spot late would have been unthinkable. Two years ago, Lewis wasn't favoring results over process.
The Minnesota Twins third baseman said Saturday he recently compared video of his past swing with the current setup and doesn't recognize himself. Hitless in 11 consecutive at-bats, Lewis is batting .211/.276/.296 with two home runs and 13 RBIs, his .572 OPS ranking 289th out of 307 players with at least 150 plate appearances this season.
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Out of Saturday's starting lineup after he was pinch hit for in the eighth inning Friday, Lewis thinks his swing is improving. But he also recognizes he's off and likely out of the lineup because of his struggles.
'It doesn't look the same as a year ago, two years ago,' Lewis said. 'My body is compensating for something. … I didn't realize how much injuries have taken a toll on my body. This is the first year it's really affected me. I don't know if it's because I'm starting to get older. When you're 20 and get hurt, you're fine. You come back and have all this energy, and your body reacts differently. I don't know what it is about it, but it has definitely taken a little bit longer this time to start feeling healthier. There's no excuses, and my swing feels good. I definitely can see in video it looks different. 'That's not Royce. I want it to be Royce. Where's Royce?''
As out of whack as Lewis feels, Twins manager Rocco Baldelli thought the breakout star of the 2023 postseason still produced one of his better swings of the season Friday. The 104.3 mph smash hit by Lewis found a glove and provided him with another round of disappointment.
Lewis, who popped out in his first at-bat, struck out in his final plate appearance and was replaced by pinch hitter Trevor Larnach in the eighth inning. Lewis said Saturday he wouldn't care what a positive result looked like because it would make the team happy and relieve him of pressure.
'I've become more results-oriented because of how we run things here,' Lewis said. 'I've prided myself on understanding that (good process is) OK. But this year it seems like if I don't — or anybody in general — (they're) quick to pull the trigger on you. I'm trying to do my best to get some balls to fall, and when that doesn't happen, you're just like SOL.'
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Baldelli isn't surprised Lewis is hyperfocused on his performance. He knows hitters' eyes can't help but look at their stat line on the scoreboard when they're in the middle of an 0-fer. But Baldelli wants Lewis to pay attention to the process that led him to his line drive out and replicate it.
'He's not alone,' Baldelli said. 'Every guy has done that at one point in his career. But how do you get it back on track? How do you get where you want to be? You go back to, how did he hit that 105-mile-an-hour line drive up the middle, and then try to do that again. It's the work that you put in. It's thinking about your swing and your approach and not your numbers.'
Lewis felt like his swing was in a great place in spring training. Though Lewis was energized in February after an offseason full of good work, it might have been derailed by the left hamstring strain he suffered March 16. Two trips to the injured list for the hammy have cost Lewis 49 games this season.
Hitting coach Matt Borgschulte said Lewis' swing is longer than in previous years. The two are in the process of cleaning it up.
'There's a little bit of length in the back part of his swing,' Borgschulte said. 'He's just missing some pitches. He's working on that and getting better with it. When you make an adjustment, sometimes it comes through right away, and sometimes it takes time to get back where it needs to be. The more we put the work in, the better it's going to get.'
Lewis has dealt with trying circumstances all season. He appreciated the timing of the All-Star break and how it allowed him to heal mentally and physically. As tough as his season is, Lewis remains confident he can turn it around.
'It's extremely hard — I just want to reset,' Lewis said. 'Something feels different. I'm trying to figure it out. Hopefully, soon it looks like the Royce of old. … If I'm at my worst, I feel like I can still produce at a great level. I'm just looking forward to putting my best foot forward for the next 60.'
Kody Clemens RBI triple?
KODY CLELMENS RBI TRIPLE!!! pic.twitter.com/J9wksRTKPq
— Minnesota Twins (@Twins) July 20, 2025
Perhaps the Twins finally hit Rock(ies) bottom.
After grabbing an early three-run lead Saturday, the Twins offense went to sleep, and the Colorado Rockies roared to life. Home runs by Ryan McMahon, Ezequiel Tovar and Hunter Goodman powered the Rockies, who clinched only their third series victory of the season in 32 tries with a 10-6 victory over the Twins in front of 42,131 at Coors Field.
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Exiting the All-Star break hoping to at least earn a series victory over Colorado, the Twins must now win Sunday to avoid a sweep to a team on pace to finish 40-122. The 2024 Chicago White Sox set the record for most losses in modern baseball history with 121.
The Twins' third straight loss drops them to 47-51 with only 10 games left until the July 31 trade deadline. The Twins are five games behind the final spot in the wild-card standings and behind five other teams, including the No. 3 Boston Red Sox.
'You want to always be in it, you want to fight for the playoffs,' catcher Ryan Jeffers said. 'But as it continues to go, we're continuing to not win games we should win. You look at the gap in the division is now 14 games. You start to look at the mountain you have to climb and think we have the ability in this locker room to do that climb and get to the playoffs and win playoff games. But we've got to play better baseball. We've got to win baseball games if we're going to do that, and we're not. We were doing that before the break and put up two duds to start the second half.'
Saturday's ascent started pretty well for the Twins.
They scored three times in the second inning as Jeffers doubled, Kody Clemens tripled, Carlos Correa doubled and Matt Wallner singled in a run.
Making his first start back after missing six weeks with a right shoulder strain, Zebby Matthews looked electric, too. He struck out a pair in the first inning and flashed a 98 mph fastball.
But things quickly went downhill for the Twins, who are easily one of the most intriguing teams at the deadline because they possess a lot of intriguing trade pieces and remain on the fence as to whether the front office should sell off players before the deadline.
Ryan Ritter doubled in a run with two outs in the second inning against Matthews to make it a 3-1 game. Jeffers made a costly mistake in the third inning when he picked up an unplayable nubber with two outs, which looked as if it would have rolled foul. McMahon took advantage, belting a score-tying two-run homer when Matthews hung a curveball.
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Matthews started the fifth inning nearing 80 pitches and exited after surrendering a blooper and a bleeder for singles. Though Brock Stewart recorded two quick outs, Tovar belted a first-pitch fastball for a three-run homer to make it a 6-3 game.
Tyler Freeman doubled in a run off Justin Topa and Hunter Goodman's RBI groundout in the sixth extended the lead to 8-3. Though the Twins tried to claw back on a two-run double by Clemens in the eighth, Goodman put the game out of reach with a two-run homer off Anthony Misiewicz.
Twins pitching surrendered eight runs with two outs.
After its quick start, the team's offense got uber-aggressive. Twins hitters were retired on 8, 7, 6 and 6 pitches between the third and sixth innings by Rockies starter Antonio Senzatela, who improved to 4-13.
'We did a really nice job early on,' Baldelli said. 'It's one thing to do it for an inning. It's another thing to maintain it for the entire outing that a starter's out there. We needed to be better for longer. We needed to be more consistent.'