Royce Lewis watched 10 of his Twins teammates get traded away at the deadline in July, and now, the third baseman can’t help but wonder if the same fate awaits him this offseason.
“You never know if it’s going to be your last at-bat here or what,” he said on Sunday, after the Twins’ finished their final home game of the season at Target Field. “You never know.”
The Twins have three more games left this season this weekend in Philadelphia. And then, they’ll kick off an offseason that figures to be an interesting one as the front office tries to reshape a roster that was decimated at the deadline and has recorded a 90-loss season for the first time since 2016. That 103-loss season led to Lewis being selected first overall in the next draft.
The thought of being traded, Lewis said, has crossed his mind.
“We don’t know what direction. I can’t control anything,” Lewis said. “I’m just here and enjoying my time with my teammates and the guys here. Because I grew up playing with all these guys so it would be a weird situation. It would almost be like, I grew up with one family and then all of a sudden, ‘Hey, I’m going to college.’”
It’s been an up and down season for the third baseman, who began the year on the injured list after straining his hamstring running to first base in a spring training game. He aggravated that same hamstring again in June and missed a couple more weeks.
Lewis talked of coming back from the injury too early to make a push with his teammates, though he didn’t specify which time. That, he thought, set him back further.
“We knew what the fortune was if we kept losing,” he said. “Then, ultimately we ended up trading away 11 guys, so once that happened at the deadline, I was really bummed that I just came back a little too soon. My body wasn’t necessarily fully trusting. My mind, my body were off, so it sets you back and then you have 75 at-bats where it’s kind of building up spring training timing again.”
Last month, the third baseman said he hadn’t felt comfortable in the box all season and his numbers have reflected that. But he’s had a month of September somewhat more reflective of the player the Twins have come to know and has become a threat on the bases, too, swiping nine bags in September.
And, importantly, he crossed the 100-game threshold for the first time in his career. Where last year he said he felt his body tiring near the end of the season, this year, he’s feeling strong as the Twins finish off their year and he heads into the offseason.
“This is my 100th game … and my body feels great,” he said on Sunday. “I feel really good and I’m looking forward to carrying that into next year. That stamina, that excitement and then go out there and start off fresh and not have any bumps in the road.”
Buxton cashes in
Byron Buxton stepped to the plate in the eighth inning on Wednesday for the 533rd time this season. By getting to that plate appearance, the Twins’ center fielder earned an extra $500,000 in incentives. Buxton made the most of that at-bat, too, hitting a three-run home run.
Buxton had already earned $500,000 for reaching plate appearance No. 502 earlier this month. With three games left, he’s not likely to reach the next bonus, which kicks in at 567 plate appearances, but there’s a decent chance the center fielder finishes in the top-10 in American League Most Valuable Player voting, which would net him another bonus. For finishing anywhere between six and 10th place in MVP balloting, Buxton would earn an extra $3 million.
Briefly
The Twins will play one final series, beginning on Friday night in Philadelphia. Joe Ryan will take the ball for the final time this season as the Twins take on Jhoan Duran, Harrison Bader, Max Kepler and the Phillies.
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