Royce Lewis

It took awhile amid a streak of injuries, but Lewis finally became a regular in the Minnesota lineup and showed he's a budding superstar. Lewis didn't play in his first major league game until May 29 due his rehab from a second torn right ACL in consecutive seasons. He immediately provided a jolt to the offense by hitting .326 with four homers and an .827 OPS in 26 games before being shelved by another injury. He missed six weeks due to an oblique injury but returned to hit .295 with 11 home runs and a .992 OPS in 32 games. He suffered his third serious injury in late September, a strained left hamstring, but was able to return for the playoffs where he hit four home runs with a 1.119 OPS in six games. When in the lineup, Lewis showed outstanding power as his max exit velocity was 55th overall and his barrels per plate appearances were 51st among hitters with his comparable playing time. He also hit four grand slams - the first player in MLB history with five slams among his first 16 career homers. He also has good plate discipline (8.6 BB/9 and just 23.0 K) which could make batting average an asset. Lewis is also fast on the basepaths, but his injury concerns could limit his stolen base attempts. He looks set to be Minnesota's everyday third baseman as the Twins have said he won't play in the outfield given his knee issues and Carlos Correa is entrenched at shortstop. Whether he'll be a premium defender at the hot corner remains to be seen, but staying healthy appears to be the only concern as he looks set to be a cornerstone of the Minnesota lineup.

Entering last season, there were some who doubted Lewis's abilities, in addition to the uncertainty surrounding his recovery from a torn right ACL. He did everything in his power at Triple-A (149 wRC+) and the majors (146 wRC+) to prove that his tools are every bit as impressive as those highest on him believed them to be. Unfortunately, he tore the same ACL right as he was settling in as an impactful fantasy and real-life player at the highest level in late May. Prior to his injury, Lewis was hitting the ball with authority (94th percentile max exit velocity) while striking out at a 19.1% clip across both stops. He also went 12-for-14 on stolen-base attempts through 46 games. His elite intangibles are part of what allowed him to come back so impressively from the first ACL tear, so there's no doubt he will do everything in his power to come back strong in the first half of 2023. The risk of Lewis re-injuring that same knee at some point is the biggest knock on him in redraft and dynasty leagues. The surprise return of Carlos Correa to the Twins changes Lewis' trajectory, and he'll now likely need to move off shortstop to have a path to clear playing time. If he can fully move past the right knee issues, he should be a five-category infielder (slight downgrade in OBP leagues), though it's unclear when exactly he'll be able to debut in 2023.

Lewis's 2021 season was erased when he suffered a torn right ACL at the start of spring training. His only action in 2020 was at the alternate training site, so this year will mark his first official game action since he was the MVP of the 2019 Arizona Fall League. Lewis is not only an excellent athlete with 70-grade speed, but he his big-time bat speed that leads to plus raw power, is a versatile defender and has excellent makeup, so he has the talent and intangibles to come back strong. Pre-injury, the big question with Lewis was the development of his hit tool, as he has used leg kicks of varying degrees as a timing mechanism throughout his pro career, and he has been out of sync for certain long stretches, particularly the 2019 season at High-A and Double-A before he got things sorted out in the AFL. Players with his pedigree (No. 1 overall pick in 2017) and tools deserve patience, but there will be a lot of pressure on him to perform in the upper levels of the minors, as he is set to turn 23 in June.

Even in a normal year, Lewis would have likely spent his age-20/21 season fine tuning some aspects of his game in the upper levels before debuting in early 2021. He spent the summer working on his shortstop defense and swing mechanics, particularly his lower half, at the alternate training site. In addition to his high-end pedigree, makeup and athleticism, Lewis' MVP performance in the 2019 Arizona Fall League showed he still has a very high ceiling despite middling statistical results at High-A and Double-A. From a tools standpoint, he stacks up with some of the best players in the game, so it's just a matter of getting more consistent at the plate. The team is saying all the right things about his defensive progress, but his 70-grade speed and elite instincts would give him a chance to be solid at any position, so it may just be a matter of where Minnesota's biggest need is when he is ready to debut.

Lewis floundered in his age-19/20 season at High-A (97 wRC+) and Double-A (88 wRC+), but was the best position player in the Arizona Fall League, slashing .353/.411/.565 with three home runs and five steals in 22 games while playing all over the diamond. He missed most of spring training with an oblique injury, which contributed to his early struggles in the pitcher-friendly Florida State League. There are moving parts in his swing, which features a big leg kick, and when that timing mechanism is off, he struggles. However, he was in complete control at the plate in the AFL, using plus-plus bat speed to make hard contact to all fields. Listed at 6-foot-2, 200 pounds, Lewis may be a bit leaner than that -- he is a quick-twitch athlete with 70-grade speed. In addition to finishing the season strong, Lewis' pedigree (No. 1 overall pick in 2017), tools and 80-grade makeup warrant a mulligan on his 2019.

The best prospect in baseball who projects to steal 20-plus bases annually in the majors is essentially a coin flip between Lewis and Victor Robles. In addition to his plus wheels, Lewis has excellent contact skills (15.7% strikeout rate across stops at Low-A and High-A) and upped his walk rate from 7.3% to 9.1% after a promotion from the Midwest League to the pitcher-friendly Florida State League. Elite bat speed is not only the key to his innate bat-to-ball ability, but also the reason he projects to be a 25-homer bat down the road. He won't turn 20 until June 5 and already has 15 homers in 139 career games against full-season pitching. At 6-foot-2, 190 pounds, he will be able to add good weight without compromising his speed on the bases. It is unclear if he will end up somewhere on the dirt or in center field, but the bat will play anywhere and his speed gives him the upside of a future first-round fantasy pick.

It doesn’t always work out this way, but the No. 1 overall pick in the 2017 draft also happens to be the top prospect from that class for dynasty leagues. While evaluators question his defense at shortstop (some expect him to eventually move to center field), Lewis is oozing with tools on the offensive side of the ball. He is at least a plus-plus runner from the right side and might have the quickest bat in his class, hinting at plus raw power down the road. That bat speed led to impressive contact rates in his pro debut, and despite turning 18 just before the draft, he is already able to get to his power in games. Lewis made quick work of the Gulf Coast League and was 17 percent better than league average (117 wRC+) in an 18-game run as one of the youngest players in the Midwest League. Lewis doesn’t have quite the same body as Mookie Betts (Lewis is five inches taller), but his offensive production could wind up being very similar to what Betts provides.