Drama, criticism builds over Twins possibly moving Royce Lewis to second base

"You can't call yourself a coach if you don't think you can coach this guy."

Aug 17, 2024; Arlington, Texas, USA; Minnesota Twins third baseman Royce Lewis (23) cannot cleanly field a ground ball at third base during the second inning against the Texas Rangers at Globe Life Field. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports / Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports

The Twins are clearly open to the idea of moving Royce Lewis from third base to second base and they might do it before this season is over. How does Lewis feel about it?

"No comment," Lewis said on the Bally Sports North postgame show after he slugged the go-ahead homer to help the Twins beat the Blue Jays on Sunday. He ended up getting three innings at second base in Sunday's game and had three defensive assists. Before that, however, Lewis made it clear that he's much more comfortable staying at third base.

“If you take a baby out of its crib where it's safe, it's going to feel a little bit scared,” Lewis said. “That's kind of where I'm at right now.”

Former Twins third baseman Trevor Plouffe thinks the Twins are making a mistake if they force their best offensive player to change positions this season.

"Why are we doing this to our most important offensive piece during a time where's he's struggling?" Plouffe said Tuesday on the SKOR North Twins Show. "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. But that's not what is happening here, it's throw him into the fire, like he's saying, in the middle of a time when they're trying to secure a playoff spot. I'm not about it. And I do agree with him, there are a lot of guys that can play second base."

"First of all, I don't fault Royce for being honest," Plouffe continued. "I'm sorry, this is all we ever want out of our athletes: to be honest, he's being honest with you. I don't think there's a malcontent bone in that guy's body.

"This is what I would've done. Keep Royce at third base for the remainder of the season. Tell him, play down the line a little bit, save some runs there. Look, he's going to make some throwing errors every once in a while, but even the defensive metrics are kind of mixed on him. Outs Above Average has him two-plus, defensive runs saved has him minus-two. Like, who cares? It's not that big of a deal to switch up everything.

"Brooks Lee, to me, seems like a guy who's OK with moving everywhere. He needs to be playing shortstop right now, but he could play second base and I think he wouldn't even think about it. I don't know what that says about the difference between both of them, all I know is that Brooks Lee is a middle infielder, to me, that can play third base as well. I would've moved Brooks Lee to second base, kept Royce at third, hopefully we get Correa back at some point. I think they're moving the wrong guy. That's what I'm thinking."

Manager Rocco Baldelli won't guarantee Lewis will play second base again this season, but he admitted that "it's a possibility."

Why move Lewis from third base? Because his defense may be a bit of a weak link. Lewis has zero fielding errors at third base this season but his six throwing errors are two shy of the league lead at the hot corner, though the players with more have played 500 to 900 more innings than Lewis.

"[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.

Plouffe likened moving Lewis to second base to putting a square peg in a round hole, and then reiterated how baffled it is if the Twins don't think they can fix Lewis' throwing motion.

"I can't believe they don't think they can. I think I can. I swear I think I can," Plouffe said, noting that he struggled with throwing early in his career before figuring it out.

For now, Lewis remains at third base but a move could be coming, whether Lewis and Plouffe like it or not.