Twins remain confident Royce Lewis can handle switch to second base

At the winter meetings, Twins manager Rocco Baldelli talked about the possibility of shifting Lewis to second.

Sep 17, 2024; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Minnesota Twins third baseman Royce Lewis (23) fields a ground ball in the fifth inning against the Cleveland Guardians at Progressive Field. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-Imagn Images / David Richard-Imagn Images

Are the Twins in the process of moving young star Royce Lewis to second base?

It's an option the front office is keeping open as the team looks to fill it's hole at second base, which the Twins think Lewis can handle. Buzz about Lewis making the switch started last season, and it wasn't received with open arms by Lewis when it first arose.

"If he has time to prepare and get ready for this and he has the second half of an offseason and spring training to get ready, he has the skillset, he has the ability to handle that. I very little doubt that he can do that," Twins manager Rocco Baldelli told the media Tuesday.

#MNTwins manager Rocco Baldelli today from the Winter Meetings in Dallas on the possibility of Royce Lewis shifting to 2B: pic.twitter.com/CAF0pXVyO9

— Darren Wolfson (@DWolfsonKSTP) December 10, 2024

Lewis was among six players that occupied the position at some point last season, appearing at second base twice for the Twins. In the minors, Lewis filled in at second base seven times across Double-A, Triple-A and fall league ball.

With the offseason departures of Kyle Farmer and Carlos Santana, as well as the retirement of Alex Kirilloff, Minnesota has a significant hole at first base to fill. That vacancy will stress the number of guys the Twins can slot in at second (a la Eddy Julien playing first base), meaning Lewis could be an option at second.

"I actually saw Royce and (Trevor) Larnach yesterday, and they're here and they work out locally. They're both doing very well. ... Royce actually said he's been taking balls on both sides of second base," continued Baldelli. "So, that tells you a little bit about where his head is. He's like, 'Yeah, I've been getting some work done at second. Just in case.'"

However, when it comes to Lewis, it's not necessarily whether he can handle the position, it's more about his availability. The 25-year-old has missed significant time due to various injuries over his three years in the big leagues.

"Royce is one, he's had so many difficult moments, whether it's the ACL tear, you know, the quad when he hit it on Opening Day and pulled it and you know, he was out for so long. He came back at the end of the year. He was a little tired, right? He was a little worn down. He even said as much," Twins chief baseball officer Derek Falvey told SiriusXM's MLB Network Radio.

"So we need to continue to prepare him to build for a full season. He still, despite having been around a little bit, he hasn't had that time yet. He hasn't had that development time. So hopefully he rolls into next offseason. He's here in Dallas. So we got to a chance to chat with him and Rocco got to see him and he's tracking in a really good direction and in a good, healthy space."

Flexibility will be a key for the cash-strapped Twins, and that is something Falvey emphasized to MLB Network early Tuesday.

"For our team, we're trying to lean into athleticism and guys that can play everywhere. We have guys like Willi Castro, who played all around the field. You know, the ability to lean into an athletic roster is something that we know, hopefully, will be a competitive advantage over time," said Falvey. "Ultimately, hopefully, we can be a good defense behind that."

Baldelli stressed that the decision to shift Lewis from third to second won't happen immediately, though he would rather figure that out sooner than later.

"We'll make that decision when we see what our roster overall is going to look like," said Baldelli. "It's hard to say anything about where Royce will ultimately fall. I'd like to figure that out sooner than later and I'm sure he would too. At this point in the offseason we probably can't answer that question quite yet."