The Minnesota Twins are once again facing injury questions surrounding slugger Royce Lewis as the club prepares for Opening Day 2026 and spring training unfolds in Florida under growing expectations.
Team officials described the move as precautionary, but any physical concern involving Lewis immediately draws heightened scrutiny across the organization due to his injury history.
Lewis, entering his fifth MLB season, felt discomfort while running the bases before a spring game vs. the Pittsburgh Pirates on Thursday. The Twins removed him from the lineup and labeled him day-to-day. Considering his track record, even minor issues warrant caution.
According to a post by The Athletic’s Dan Hayes on X, formerly Twitter, the Twins provided clarification through their media relations department as spring training continued.
#MNTwins scratched Royce Lewis from today’s game. Per media relations: Lewis experienced tightness on right side after running the bases pregame. Scratched “out of abundance of caution.”
— DanHayesMLB (@DanHayesMLB) February 26, 2026
Hayes shared the update during early Grapefruit League action. While the Twins emphasized the precautionary nature of the move, the phrase “right-side tightness” carries added weight for a player who has endured an injury-plagued career to this point.
Lewis has battled two ACL tears and multiple soft-tissue strains in the past. When healthy, the slugging third baseman anchors the middle of the Twins’ lineup and significantly raises the club’s offensive ceiling. That reality makes any injury-related update especially significant with Minnesota exactly one month away from Opening Day on March 26 and the start of the 2026 regular season.
The Twins are also closely monitoring their pitching staff this spring. Starter Pablo Lopez will miss the season following UCL surgery, and Joe Ryan continues to manage back tightness. As a result, injuries are testing the club’s depth early in camp.
With several key contributors managing health concerns, Minnesota’s margin for early-season setbacks appears increasingly thin entering March.
For now, the organization is framing Lewis’ scratch as preventative. Still, the Grapefruit League decision underscores how central he remains to the Twins' ambitions and their fanbase for the 2026 season—and how carefully the club must manage his workload moving forward.
