Are the Twins going to force Royce Lewis to play second base?

Lewis made it clear that he's not all that interested in moving.

Sep 27, 2024; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Minnesota Twins third baseman Royce Lewis (23) watches the pitch in the third inning agains the Baltimore Orioles at Target Field. Mandatory Credit: Matt Blewett-Imagn Images / Matt Blewett-Imagn Images

Royce Lewis doesn't want to be taken out of his crib.

Lewis made that clear this past season when the Minnesota Twins experimented with him at second base. Moving Lewis from third to second base wouldn't be like moving a toddler into a big boy bed. Lewis doesn't seem to view it as a promotion.

“If you take a baby out of its crib where it's safe, it's going to feel a little bit scared,” Lewis said late in the season after the Twins started toying with the idea. “That's kind of where I'm at right now.”

It's unclear if Lewis has opened his mind to the transition, but it's clear the Twins are focused on moving forward with second base as an option. Take it from Twins Chief Baseball Officer Derek Falvey, who said as much in an interview with the Star Tribune's Bobby Nightengale Jr.

“Some of that will depend on the personnel we acquire, don’t acquire and how that all shakes out,” Falvey said when talking about the possibility. “We want him to stay open-minded to that and we’ll have that conversation.”

If Lewis is at second base, it could mean Brooks Lee at third base, Carlos Correa at shortstop and Jose Miranda at first base. Miranda also has the ability to play the hot corner.

Former Twins third baseman Trevor Plouffe has been criticcal of the Twins about the topic of moving Lewis.

"Why are we doing this to our most important offensive piece during a time where's he's struggling?" Plouffe said in early September. "I've said it all along, that Royce Lewis is not a second baseman. Now could he work at it this entire offseason and get comfortable at it and be a guy there? Sure, he's athletic enough, I think he could figure it out."

Plouffe said Lee makes more sense as Minnesota's second baseman and barked that if the Twins are considering moving Lewis due to throwing errors, it's an indictment on the coaching.

"[The Twins] don't believe he can fix his throwing issue, which is, to me, what are we doing then? You can't call yourself a coach if you don't think you can coach this guy. You need to be able to go out there and have him figure out a throwing motion that works," Plouffe said.

According to FanGraphs, Lewis made six throwing errors in 411 2/3 innings at third base in 2024. Five third basemen had more throwing errors: Isaac Parades (9), Josh Rojas (8), Matt Chapman (7), Alex Bregman (7) and Joey Ortiz (7).

But Lewis averaged one throwing error every 68.5 innings compared to Parades averaging one every 123 innings. Josh Rojas (one per 119 innings), Matt Chapman (one per 191 innings), Alex Bregman (one per 176.3 innings) and Joey Ortiz (one per 156.9 innings) also had much lower throwing error rates.

Lewis, however, had zero fielding errors at third base.

It's not set in stone, but the narrative from 1 Twins Way in Minneapolis seems to suggest that second base is a strong possibility for Lewis in 2025.