Royce Lewis energized after visit with Twins manager Derek Shelton: ‘He believed in me’

Four days after Derek Shelton was introduced as the new Twins manager, he was on a flight to Dallas for a lunch visit with Royce Lewis.

Shelton was still in the early stages of configuring his coaching staff. He had another flight the same day to Las Vegas ahead of the general managers meetings. All other players received an introductory phone call.

The trip to Hard Eight BBQ, a seven-minute drive from the airport, was like a newly hired college football coach prioritizing a top recruit.

Perhaps there is no player that controls the Twins’ upside next season as much as Lewis, the 26-year-old third baseman. The Twins know what to expect from Byron Buxton when he is healthy, and they have been able to count on starters Pablo López and Joe Ryan.

In 2023 and much of the 2024 season, Lewis looked like a face-of-the-franchise star. The first overall pick in the 2017 draft homered twice in his first playoff game, ending the Twins’ 18-game postseason losing streak. Then he badly slumped for the final six weeks in 2024, coinciding with the team’s infamous collapse, and he struggled mightily last season.

“He’s so important to us because he’s so talented,” Shelton said. “He’s been on and off the field with injuries. I wanted to make sure that we talked about how he was taking care of his body. I was able to look him face to face and tell him what I thought about him and how much I believed in him.”

Lewis was honored by the gesture. His agent, Scott Boras, reiterated how rare it is for managers, even new ones, to take the time to visit players in the offseason. Shelton recently dined with Buxton in Jacksonville, Fla., a halfway spot between their homes, and he has plans to meet with López, a fellow Floridian, soon.

“He started off by saying, ‘I just want to let you know how much we care about you, how important you are to this organization. We’ve heard you thought otherwise, so we want to make sure that’s not the case here. That’s why I flew out to see you in person rather than over the phone.’ That definitely was the case, so it really meant a lot to see him.”

It was a difficult 2025 season for Lewis, hitting .237 with career lows in homers (12), on-base percentage (.283) and OPS (.671) despite playing in a career-high 106 games.

He strained his hamstring during spring training, yet another devastating and frustrating injury, and he missed the first month of the season. When he returned, success was fleeting. He was hitless in his first 15 at-bats and then went through a career-worst 0-for-32 spell a couple of weeks later.

The Twins, as a team, knowing they needed to play well to avoid a trade deadline sell-off, crumbled after the All-Star break.

During the BBQ lunch — “We had a lot of good barbecue. He took care of me there,” Shelton said — the two chatted about lessons they learned from their low moments. Shelton mentioned how he thought he could improve as a manager after his five-plus years with the Pittsburgh Pirates. Lewis admitted his swing felt “horrible” last year.

The conversation, Lewis said, pumped him up. He was still smiling about it a month later. He traveled to Minnesota this week for the team’s annual “Holiday Week of Giving.” Lewis joined Luke Keaschall and Justin Morneau for a visit to Gillette Children’s, where they met with families in the pediatric intensive care unit.

“Honestly, it made my whole offseason, for sure,” Lewis said. “It got me so jazzed and amped up to get going. I was like, shoot, it’s only November. Let’s go play. I want to go. It was perfect timing — it was right before I started hitting.”

The Twins plan to keep their All-Star players, Buxton, Ryan and López, despite heavy trade interest from other teams. For next season to be a success, the team is counting on Lewis returning to form and some other young players bouncing back.

Shelton told Lewis in early November this was the expected outcome this offseason, and the manager added, “We believe we have a good team here to win the division.”

No one from the outside will be predicting the Twins as a legitimate division contender, not after they traded 10 major league players in July, but Lewis is confident. He was an everyday player for the final 80 games, his longest healthy stretch of his big-league career. All Twins players are healthy at this point in the offseason, Lewis added.

As Shelton’s visit indicated, a lot will be riding on Lewis’ performance next year.

“You’re on the biggest stage of your life and in the world,” Lewis said. “You’re on TV every night showing your weaknesses, your strengths. Obviously, it would be nice to show out more often, but there are times you are going to struggle.