Rocco Baldelli provides injury updates on Royce Lewis, Jose Miranda

How soon will the Twins get Lewis and Miranda back from the injured list?

Jun 19, 2024; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Minnesota Twins third baseman Royce Lewis (23) celebrates hitting a solo home run against the Tampa Bay Rays in the fifth inning at Target Field. / Jesse Johnson-USA TODAY Sports

The Twins could get Royce Lewis and Jose Miranda back from the injured list fairly soon.

Lewis, who has ten homers in just 24 games this season, hasn't played since suffering an oblique strain on July 2nd, but he's running and hitting and is feeling good, according to The Athletic's Aaron Gleeman. Manager Rocco Baldelli said the Twins could send Lewis on a brief minor league rehab assignment next week, so his return to the Minnesota lineup might not be far away. That would be huge for the Twins, as Lewis has a 185 OPS+ in 99 plate appearances this season.

Royce Lewis taking BP. pic.twitter.com/6AQEVZbS07

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Miranda's return from a lower back strain doesn't appear to be far away, either, although Baldelli indicated that he won't be ready to be activated when first eligible on Sunday. Miranda could be back in the lineup "relatively soon" without needing a minor league rehab assignment, per Gleeman. He's hitting .325 with a 148 OPS+ this season, including a recent stretch where he tied an MLB record with hits in 12 consecutive at bats.

When healthy, Lewis and Miranda have been two of the Twins' three best hitters. The other is Carlos Correa, who landed on the IL due to plantar fasciitis on Saturday. The move is retroactive to July 16th, and it sounds like the Twins don't expect Correa's absence to be a lengthy one. Chris Paddack also went on the IL, while Austin Martin was activated and Edouard Julien was recalled from the Triple-A St. Paul Saints.

At the moment, the Twins' non-first-base infield options are Willi Castro, Brooks Lee, Julien, Martin, and Diego A. Castillo. It's possible that before July is over, we could see an infield featuring some combination of Lewis, Correa, Miranda, Lee, and Castro all at once. Lee, the Twins' first-round pick in 2022, made his MLB debut on July 3, the day after Lewis got hurt for the second time this season.

Related: Three keys for the Twins in the second half of the 2024 season