Royce Lewis: The Next Kirby Puckett, or the Next Jose Miranda.

Sep 8

I’m the last one usually to say I’m wrong. But…oops.

I sat on this same chair a year ago and told you that Jose Miranda was the leader of this Twins team. He was the future captain, the Grand Poobah. Miranda, banished to St. Paul save for 10 plate appearances since early May, was more the next Miguel Sano than the next Kirby Puckett.

Yeah, I’m going to bring up Puckett. The GOAT is soon to have company. In 20 years, someone at Pulltab Sports will write a column confirming what I’m telling you now. Royce Lewis is the best player in Minnesota Twins history.

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Sacrilegious? Hear me out.

Let’s start with nowadays. He’s the most impactful player on this team, and it’s not even close. Quick - come up with Carlos Correa’s signature moment. Ok, can you name two?

Now let’s talk Lewis, in the last month alone. In the midst of a playoff race at a time the Twins wilted in the August heat a year ago, Lewis has three grand slams since the Vikings opened training camp, and four overall this year. He hit two in back-to-back games, and the next night when all of Minnesota sports “ugh”-ed when he didn’t get one with the bases loaded, he hit a homer in his next at bat.

The Twins even want to know your favorite blast.

Lewis is the second player in MLB history to hit at least five homers and three grand slams in an eight game stretch. The other is none other than Lou Gehrig. In 1931. He’s hit three of the Twins’ 20 grand slams ever against Cleveland - Harmon Killebrew had two.

Puckett had it all. That smile. Hit for average. Dramatic home runs. A guy you wanted to (and may have) drank at Bullwinkles just down the road from The Metrodome.

Lewis? All of that. Charismatic as all get out. Imagine having that million dollar smile AND being able to hit a baseball 450 feet on demand. Versatile - slugging along at third place because the Twins’ $200 million man is the starting shortstop. No stage is too big for this guy - and the biggest stage, Yankee Stadium, won’t be an available opposing venue this October. What’s the flaw in his game?

Lewis is 24 years old and on his way to stardom. And it’s easy to forget - despite us all knowing - what he’s overcome. In 2020 there were no minor leagues due to Covid-19. In 2021 he blew out his knee. Again in 2022, while the Twins experimented with him in centerfield and he blew out his knee again.

ZERO professional at bats from the fall of 2019 to the spring of 2022. That’s 30 months. Less than 200 at bats in 2022 before the second knee injury. This year, finally, more than 200 at bats for the first time since A and AA ball in 2019.

Can he continue his trend toward Puckettville and never have to pay for a drink at a North Loop food hall?

It’s fair to question his durability. Freak ACL injuries no doubt. But he also missed six weeks this year with an oblique strain. At the same time, some could argue he’s 24 with significantly less innings on his body than your usual 24-year-old MLB player.

Puckett, by the way, didn’t even make his MLB debut until he was 24. He flirted with, but didn’t hit the .300 mark until season three. He hit 25 or more homers twice in his 12 MLB seasons (gosh, we all wish we’d have seen him for more than 12). Lewis seems like he’ll be a regular 30-homer guy for the considerable future. He’s on pace for around 40 this year with a full season of games. Puckett won six Gold Gloves, but of course he was playing his natural position, and was an All-Star 10 times.

Puckett was selected in the first round of a draft that no longer exists - the January draft was for winter graduates and was last held in 1986. Lewis the first round pick in an MLB Amateur Draft that’s now broadcast nationally.

Lewis has more than 1,700 more games, 194 more homers, 1041 more RBI to catch Puckett, who also led the Twins to two World Series titles. That’s ultimately what Lewis will be judged on by this championship-starved baseball market.

But Lewis has no playoff history with this team. He’s got no 0-fors against the Yankees. He’s got no errors in a critical spot. And maybe that fresh start with the Twins’ “new GOAT” is all they need to get to the next level.