Royce Lewis Is Carrying the Torch For Buxton and Correa

The Minnesota Twins have one of baseball’s most talented trios.

Carlos Correa, Byron Buxton, and Royce Lewis.

Minnesota’s problem over the last four seasons has been keeping all three in the lineup together. They have only played 22 games together in 2024 and 2025 and got off to a slow start.

Lewis missed the first 35 games of the season after a moderate left hamstring strain he suffered when running out a ground ball in spring training. Add in Buxton and Correa’s missed time after a scary collision in Baltimore, and the trio has only made seven starts this season.

It’s led to a lot of frustration among the Twins fanbase. Correa, Buxton, and Lewis have shown they can occasionally carry the lineup, and fans are hoping for a sustained stretch where all three could be playing their best simultaneously. But now that Buxton and Correa are out, Lewis must become one of the team’s best hitters.

Lewis has been a spark plug on offense. A .263/.324/.484 career slash line, 34 home runs, and 85 RBI in 165 games over four seasons is enough to excite any fan. From grand slams to a two-home run game in his postseason debut, Lewis has an infectious energy. It has made him one of the faces of a team that features two established All-Stars in Buxton and Correa.

However, Lewis got off to a slow start this season. His two-month absence meant he had to play catch-up during regular-season games, which was especially shocking to Twins fans who have grown accustomed to seeing Lewis rake immediately when he returns from injury. He went 0-14 at the plate in his first five games back with an 84.1 MPH average exit velocity (88.8 MPH is league average), creating immediate concern.

After that rough start, it all started to click. An RBI single in a 7-6 win to sweep the San Francisco Giants sparked Lewis. Since May 11, Lewis has looked closer to the player who can be the face of a franchise with a .296/.367/.444 slashline over the next eight games.

Lewis’ underlying numbers also show high production, with a 135 wRC+ and a 90.2 MPH average exit velocity. He had 109.5 MPH exit velocity on his home run Sunday afternoon, followed by a deep fly ball that would have left the yard and tied the game, and potentially helped extend Minnesota’s 13-game winning streak. Jackson Chourio’s highlight reel catch prevented that, but batted balls like that continue to tease the return of prime Lewis.

Lewis has also made a defensive impact. Entering the season, he was a 4 outs above average third baseman. Now he has 1 OAA over 75 innings this season at the hot corner and makes multiple web gems for Minnesota’s defense. That’s a meaningful development considering the team had been toying with moving him to second base because of Lewis’ defensive shortcomings at third.

Lewis’s rise comes at an important moment in Minnesota’s season. Following a 13-game winning streak that ended over the weekend, the Twins have a crucial week ahead. The Kansas City Royals arrive right as the Cleveland Guardians leave Target Field. Therefore, the Twins have an opportunity to fully establish themselves as the No. 2 team in the division behind the Detroit Tigers.

Half a game separates the 2-4 teams in a competitive AL Central. A surging Lewis can give the Twins the help they need to keep playing their best baseball without two of their best position players.

Drafted No. 1 overall in 2017, Lewis was projected as a high-ceiling player who needed development.

He missed all of 2020 when the minor league season was cancelled due to COVID-19. A year later, Lewis missed the season with a torn ACL. That cut short his meteoric rise to the majors, with only 336 minor league games and 1335 minor league plate appearances before his big league debut in 2022. A year later, he only played 12 games before tearing his ACL again while playing center field.

Other top prospects have matriculated quickly through the minors. But for a prospect as raw as Lewis, everyone must acknowledge that he’ll experience low lows.

Lewis had to learn some aspects of the game at the big league level when other prospects had more time to develop in Triple-A. It’s why his return to his high-ceiling production is so promising. Lewis appears to be getting healthy and figuring out how opposing pitchers are trying to attack him. He must learn how to continually refine his approach without the team’s two highest-paid contributors in the lineup.

Buxton was on an All-Star pace before the Twins put him on the injured list. He was hitting .261/.312/.522 this season, with 10 home runs and 37 RBI through 41 games. Buxton had 131 wRC+ and 1.9 fWAR marks this early in the season, and was also a 100th percentile defender in center field, creating the foundation for one of Buxton’s best seasons. Buxton has been Minnesota’s best player all season and a big reason why the team escaped a 7-15 start and has a 26-21 record that has them at second place in the AL Central.

Correa’s 2025 stats, including a .605 OPS and a 71 wRC+ in 41 games, have not matched Buxton’s. However, Correa was Minnesota’s most important player in the first half of the 2024 season. Correa’s .308/.377/.520 slashline with 13 home runs and a 153 wRC+ in his first 75 games of 2024 earned him his first All-Star appearance in Minnesota as he led the Twins into the mid-season break with a 54-42 record. Add in a crazy productive September 2022 with a .355/.412/.589 slashline combined with a 187 wRC+ over the 31-game stretch. Combine that with his 2023 postseason moments, and it’s easy to find moments where Correa has been Minnesota’s best hitter.

Eventually, Buxton, Correa, and Lewis will all produce at a high clip together. Until then, the Twins have been on a merry-go-round by shuffling through a combination of the star players, hoping they can make up for each other’s losses. It’s time for Lewis to show he can fill the void that Minnesota’s two All-Stars are leaving.

Even if it’s only for a short period, this stretch could give Lewis the urgency to raise his production without Buxton and Correa. It’s too much to ask Lewis to produce the combined 2.5 fWAR that Buxton and Correa have vacated. Still, he’s the only hitter on the Twins roster who can come close to hitting that level of run production. Lewis must carry the torch Buxton has been holding so far this season. Luckily for the Twins, he seems to be finding his swing at the right time.