Former number one overall pick in the 2017 draft class Royce Lewis has played less than a full season’s worth of games for the Minnesota Twins, but all signs are pointing at him following the footsteps of former Twins greats in becoming a future Twin Cities cornerstone for years to come.

Career Numbers (so far)

In his first 81 games played throughout 2022, 2023, and 2024, his stats stand at:

.321 AVG/.375 OBP/.608 SLG

24 Home Runs

4.4 fWAR

Lewis’ Rookie Season

In just 239 at bats in 2023, Lewis broke out with 15 home runs, a slash line of .309/.372/.548 for an OPS at .921 and an OPS+ of 150.

To capture just how impressive Lewis’ rookie season was, here is the list of rookie players since 1983 with 250+ plate appearances with a .300 AVG and an OPS+ at or above 150: Albert Pujols, Jose Abreu, Mike Piazza, Ryan Braun, Mike Trout, Yordan Alvarez, Fernando Tatis Jr., Yasiel Puig, and Royce Lewis himself.

Not many rookies were able to produce at the same level Lewis was able to in 2023, and he proved to be able to handle the high pressure moments as well, with an OPS of 1.237 with runners in scoring position (during he regular season), and a 1.119 OPS in the playoffs.

Underlying Numbers

While all the counting stats look great, many players have often put up otherworldly statistics in a small sample size, so lets look at some of the underlying numbers.

Plate discipline and sliders are two of the most common struggles among young hitters. Looking at Lewis’ walk rate, he put up a 8.4 walk percentage, and hit .333 with a .588 SLG against sliders in 2023, both very solid numbers.

The only concern regarding Lewis’ statistics so far is his BABIP (batting average on balls in play), which stands at .354, putting him at top 27 in the league. Some form of regression is bound to hit Lewis as he has hit into a bit of batted ball luck. Aside from this minor flaw, Lewis’ hard hitting metrics, above average sprint speed (73rd percentile), and solid defense support the hype around his name. The only standing in the way of him being an MVP caliber player is his health, having dealt with two torn ACLs and an oblique strain in his young career.

The Future

Barring any other significant injuries, Minnesota is looking at a 24 year-old superstar in the making, placing him one of their most valuable pieces in their quest to bring a World Series to the Twin Cities for the first time since 1991.

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