FORT MYERS, Fla. — Royce Lewis seemed to be in relatively good spirits on Tuesday, two days after suffering a hamstring injury that will force him to miss Opening Day.
But even he can’t help but wonder why this keeps happening to him.
Two anterior cruciate ligament tears in his right knee forced him into two year-long rehab processes. Since then, oblique, hamstring, quadriceps, adductor and now another hamstring injury have landed him to the injured list.
It’s frustrating for even the most optimistic player.
“You put in so much work, you put in so much time, money, energy. If I could, shoot, I’d rather save the money I’m spending on my body if I knew I was going to keep getting hurt,” Lewis said. “I jokingly say that, but it’s true. There’s a lot of money being spent, a lot of time being spent (that) I’d rather be spending with my family instead of hours in chambers, doing other stuff.
“But that’s the price you pay to play the game that you love.”
Lewis worked this offseason with Dr. Jennifer Reiner-Marcello, a reconditioning and performance therapist who formerly worked for the Twins. When he arrived to spring training, he said he was feeling loose, fast, elusive, athletic and bouncy — all the things he wanted to feel.
And yet, he is sidelined by another injury.
Lewis suffered the strain on Sunday, running to first base while trying to beat out a groundball. Initially, he thought it might be a calf injury because he was feeling some pain behind his knee. Imaging taken on Monday revealed a moderate left hamstring strain. He described the injury as feeling more achy on Tuesday than painful.
“People ask a lot about the mental state and emotional state of obviously being frustrated or whatever, but I’m thinking, ‘Anyone would be frustrated,’ ” Lewis said. “I think the part people forget is, ‘Dude, I’m hurt. It actually hurts.’ ”
Lewis talked about the challenge of putting his clothes on and not being able to get a good night’s sleep because of the injury. There is still significant swelling in the area and he’s doing everything he can to reduce that as quickly as possible. That means time spent in the sauna, hot tub, cold tub and even a hyperbaric oxygen chamber.
“We’re trying everything we can,” he said. “Anything that’s good for it, we’re going to do it.”
When the swelling goes down, he’s been told, trainers will have a better sense of what they are working with and how long he’ll be off the field this time around.
The Twins have not laid out a timetable for his return as they wait to see how he responds to treatment. Even in the “lightest, the best-case scenario,” Lewis said, he was told it was going to be a couple weeks. And the Twins certainly are not going to rush the third baseman back. The colder weather in the Midwest doesn’t help, either.
But the optimistic side of Lewis is still maintaining positivity that his stay on the injured list won’t be too long.
“Maybe that’s why I’m in good spirits,” he said. “I’m hopeful.”
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