Royce Lewis Reportedly Sent to Triple-A by Twins Amid Slump, Former MLB No. 1 Overall Pick

Royce Lewis has become the second notable member of the Minnesota Twins to be demoted due to a prolonged hitting slump.

Per The Athletic's Dan Hayes, the Twins are sending Lewis down to Triple-A.

Lewis, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2017 MLB draft, is hitting .163/.261/.279 with 37 strikeouts in 119 plate appearances this season.

The demotion for Lewis comes after Matt Wallner, the team's opening day starter in right field, was sent down to Triple-A last week.

Lewis and Waller were expected to be significant pieces for the Twins this season after the front office made a series of moves last summer to cut payroll and start a rebuild.

Wallner finished second on the team with 22 homers in 2025. Lewis has often struggled to put up huge numbers in his career due to injuries, but he was able to play a career-high 106 games last year.

Things have not come together for either player so far in 2026. Wallner was hitting .167/.259/.292 and was the least-valuable position player in MLB by fWAR with at least 130 plate appearances at the time he was demoted.

Lewis was solid through 12 games to start the year. He was only hitting .222, but his on-base percentage (.378) and slugging percentage (.444) were encouraging.

A knee injury forced Lewis to the injured list on April 10 that kept him out for 10 games. He has been a mess since returning to the lineup, hitting .132/.189/.191 with 25 strikeouts in 74 plate appearances since April 21.

Despite demoting two of their opening day starters, the Twins have been respectable so far this season. Their 22-26 record has them just 4.5 games behind the Cleveland Guardians for first place in the AL Central entering play on Tuesday.