Royce Lewis

Royce Lewis

25-Year-Old Third Baseman3B
Minnesota Twins
2024 Fantasy Outlook
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. Read Past Outlooks
RANKS
Rest of Season From Preseason
#47
ADP
$Signed a one-year, $745,700 contract with the Twins in March of 2024.
Getting Wednesday off
3BMinnesota Twins
September 18, 2024
Lewis is out of the lineup for Wednesday's game against the Guardians.
ANALYSIS
Lewis will get some rest after he had started at third base in each of the past six games while going 6-for-22 with two doubles, two walks, two RBI and two runs. Jose Miranda will spell Lewis at the hot corner Wednesday.
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Batting Stats
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2024
2023
2022
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2023 MLB Game Log
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Batting Order Slot Breakdown
vs Right-Handed Pitchers
vs RHP
#1
#2
#3
#4
#5
#6
#7
#8
#9
4
23
13
9
1
vs Left-Handed Pitchers
vs LHP
#1
#2
#3
#4
#5
#6
#7
#8
#9
5
14
4
3
Left/Right Batting Splits
Since 2022
 
 
+5%
OPS vs RHP
2024
 
 
+7%
OPS vs LHP
2023
 
 
+22%
OPS vs RHP
2022
 
 
+31%
OPS vs LHP
OPS PA R HR RBI SB AVG OBP SLG
Since 2022vs Left .798 167 22 5 16 3 .281 .359 .438
Since 2022vs Right .834 438 59 28 88 3 .263 .315 .519
2024vs Left .780 102 12 4 14 0 .253 .343 .437
2024vs Right .732 223 28 12 33 0 .224 .274 .459
2023vs Left .787 56 8 1 2 3 .314 .375 .412
2023vs Right .962 183 28 14 50 3 .307 .372 .590
2022vs Left 1.069 9 2 0 0 0 .375 .444 .625
2022vs Right .813 32 3 2 5 0 .281 .281 .531
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Home/Away Batting Splits
Since 2022
 
 
+1%
OPS on Road
2024
 
 
+35%
OPS at Home
2023
 
 
+29%
OPS on Road
2022
 
 
+136%
OPS on Road
OPS PA R HR RBI SB AVG OBP SLG
Since 2022Home .822 315 45 18 56 3 .258 .321 .502
Since 2022Away .827 290 36 15 48 3 .279 .334 .492
2024Home .862 159 26 10 30 0 .261 .333 .528
2024Away .639 166 14 6 17 0 .207 .259 .380
2023Home .808 123 17 7 22 3 .250 .317 .491
2023Away 1.041 116 19 8 30 3 .371 .431 .610
2022Home .697 33 2 1 4 0 .273 .273 .424
2022Away 1.643 8 3 1 1 0 .429 .500 1.143
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Stat Review
How does Royce Lewis compare to other hitters?
This section compares his stats with all batting seasons from the previous three seasons (minimum 400 plate appearances)*. The bar represents the player's percentile rank. For example, if the bar is halfway across, then the player falls into the 50th percentile for that stat and it would be considered average.

* Exit Velocity and Barrels/PA % are benchmarked against 2019 data (min 400 PA) and Hard Hit Rate is benchmarked against last season's data (min 400 PA). See here for more exit velocity/barrels stats plus an explanation of current limitations with that data set.
  • BB/K
    Walk to strikeout ratio
  • BB Rate
    The percentage of plate appearances resulting in a walk.
  • K Rate
    The percentage of plate appearances resulting in a strikeout.
  • BABIP
    Batting average on balls in play. Measures how many of a batter’s balls in play go for hits.
  • ISO
    Isolated Power. Slugging percentage minus batting average. A computation used to measure a batter's raw power.
  • AVG
    Batting average. Hits divided by at bats.
  • OBP
    On Base Percentage. A measure of how often a batters reaches base. Roughly equal to number of times on base divided by plate appearances.
  • SLG
    Slugging Percentage. A measure of the batting productivity of a hitter. It is calculated as total bases divided by at bats.
  • OPS
    On base plus slugging. THe sum of a batter's on-base percentage and slugging percentage.
  • wOBA
    Weighted on-base average. Measures a player's overall offensive contributions per plate appearance. wOBA combines all the different aspects of hitting into one metric, weighting each of them in proportion to their actual run value.
  • Exit Velocity
    The speed of the baseball as it comes off the bat, immediately after a batter makes contact.
  • Hard Hit Rate
    A measure of contact quality from Sports Info Solutions. This stat explains what percentage of batted balls were hit hard vs. medium or soft.
  • Barrels/PA
    The percentage of plate appearances where a batter had a batted ball classified as a Barrel. A Barrel is a batted ball with similar exit velocity and launch angle to past ones that led to a minimum .500 batting average and 1.500 slugging percentage.
  • Expected BA
    Expected Batting Average.
  • Expected SLG
    Expected Slugging Percentage.
  • Sprint Speed
    The speed of a runner from home to first, in feet per second.
  • Ground Ball %
    The percentage of balls put in play that are on the ground.
  • Line Drive %
    The percentage of balls put in play that are line drives.
  • Fly Ball %
    The percentage of balls put in play that are fly balls.
BB/K
0.38
 
BB Rate
8.6%
 
K Rate
22.8%
 
BABIP
.251
 
ISO
.219
 
AVG
.233
 
OBP
.295
 
SLG
.452
 
OPS
.747
 
wOBA
.322
 
Exit Velocity
87.1 mph
 
Hard Hit Rate
35.0%
 
Barrels/PA
7.7%
 
Expected BA
.248
 
Expected SLG
.445
 
Sprint Speed
22.0 ft/sec
 
Ground Ball %
36.0%
 
Line Drive %
18.0%
 
Fly Ball %
45.9%
 
Prospect Rankings History
Advanced Batting Stats
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Additional Stats
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Defensive Stats
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Batted Ball Stats
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Stats Vs Upcoming Pitchers
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Past Fantasy Outlooks
2023
2022
2021
2020
2019
2018
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.
More Fantasy News
Starting at second base Wednesday
3BMinnesota Twins
September 4, 2024
Lewis will start at second base and bat second in Wednesday's game versus the Rays.
ANALYSIS
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Provides clutch three-run homer
3BMinnesota Twins
September 2, 2024
Lewis went 1-for-3 with a three-run home run and a walk in Sunday's 4-3 win over the Blue Jays.
ANALYSIS
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Getting breather Wednesday
3BMinnesota Twins
August 28, 2024
Lewis is absent from the lineup for Wednesday's game versus Atlanta.
ANALYSIS
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Receiving Sunday off
3BMinnesota Twins
August 25, 2024
Lewis is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the Cardinals.
ANALYSIS
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Not starting Sunday
3BMinnesota Twins
August 18, 2024
Lewis is absent from Sunday's lineup against Texas.
ANALYSIS
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Latest Fantasy Rumors
Elite production in first 100 games
3BMinnesota Twins
August 4, 2024
Lewis ranks first in Twins history through 100 career games with 28 home runs and 78 RBI, reports Aaron Gleeman of The Athletic.
ANALYSIS
He is also second to Hall of Fame outfielder Tony Oliva with a .578 slugging percentage and .937 OPS. Lewis hit the ground running when he made his MLB debut in 2022, but injuries have resulted in him spending more time on the injured list than on the field.
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