Royce Lewis

Royce Oliver Lewis (born June 5, 1999) is an American professional baseball shortstop in the Minnesota Twins organization. He was drafted by the Twins first overall in the 2017 Major League Baseball draft.

Royce Lewis
Minnesota Twins
Shortstop
Born: (1999-06-05) June 5, 1999
Aliso Viejo, California
Bats: Right Throws: Right

Amateur career

Lewis attended JSerra Catholic High School in San Juan Capistrano, California. As a junior, he was the Los Angeles Times high school baseball player of the year after hitting .429 with four home runs.[1] During the Summer in 2016, he played in the Under Armour All-American Game at Wrigley Field and the Perfect Game All-American Classic at Petco Park, and was named MVP of both games.[2][3] Lewis played mostly third base and outfield his first three years of high school before moving to shortstop for his senior year.[4]

Lewis was considered one of the top prospects for the 2017 Major League Baseball draft.[5] He committed to the University of California, Irvine to play college baseball.[6] He was named California's Baseball Gatorade Player of the Year in 2017 after batting .377 with four home runs and 25 stolen bases as a senior.[7]

Professional career

The Minnesota Twins selected Lewis with the first overall selection of the 2017 draft.[8] The Twins announced his signing on June 17,[9] and Lewis made his professional debut with the Gulf Coast League Twins of the Rookie-level Gulf Coast League on June 26. On August 12, Lewis was promoted to the Cedar Rapids Kernels of the Class A Midwest League. He finished 2017 with a combined .279 batting average, four home runs, 27 RBIs, and 18 stolen bases in 54 games between both clubs.[10] Lewis began the 2018 season with Cedar Rapids.[11] In 75 games for Cedar Rapids, he batted .315 with nine home runs and 53 RBIs along with fifty runs scored and 22 stolen bases.[12]

On July 14, 2018, Lewis was promoted to the Fort Myers Miracle of the Class A-Advanced Florida State League.[13] On July 26, 2018 MLB.com ranked Lewis as the 10th best prospect in baseball.[14] Lewis ended his stint in Fort Myers batting .255 with five home runs and 21 RBIs in 46 games.[15] Following the 2018 season, Lewis was named to the Midwest League postseason all-star team along with teammate Alex Kirilloff. Lewis was also named the MVP of the Midwest League.[16]

The Twins invited Lewis to spring training as a non-roster player in 2019.[17] He returned to Fort Myers to begin the 2019 season.[18] He was ranked the fifth-best prospect by MLB.com at the beginning of the 2019 season.[19] Lewis was named to the 2019 All-Star Futures Game.[20] In July, he was promoted to the Pensacola Blue Wahoos of the Class AA Southern League. Over 127 games between the two clubs, he slashed .236/.290/.371 with 12 home runs, 49 RBIs, and 22 stolen bases.[21] He was selected to play in the Arizona Fall League for the Salt River Rafters following the season.[22] Lewis was named the 2019 Arizona Fall League MVP.[23]

References

  1. "Royce Lewis of JSerra is the L.A. Times high school baseball player of the year". June 11, 2016 via LA Times.
  2. "TRINITY LEAGUE ATHLETE PROFILE: JSERRA'S ROYCE LEWIS". October 10, 2016.
  3. Sondheimer, Eric (August 14, 2016). "Baseball: Royce Lewis is MVP of Perfect Game All-American Classic" via LA Times.
  4. "JSerra's Royce Lewis hopes to show MLB scouts he can play shortstop". dailynews.com. February 4, 2017. Retrieved March 12, 2019.
  5. "MLB.com 2017 Prospect Watch". Major League Baseball.
  6. Royce Lewis commits to UC Irvine – Orange County Register
  7. Sondheimer, Eric. "Royce Lewis of JSerra is the Gatorade state player of the year". latimes.com. Retrieved March 12, 2019.
  8. Bollinger, Rhett (June 12, 2017). "Twins pick Royce Lewis No. 1 in 2017 Draft | Minnesota Twins". M.twins.mlb.com. Retrieved March 12, 2019.
  9. Kelly, Matt (June 17, 2017). "Twins sign, introduce top Draft pick Lewis". MLB.com. Retrieved June 17, 2017.
  10. "Ryan Vilade Stats, Highlights, Bio - MiLB.com Stats - The Official Site of Minor League Baseball". MiLB.com. Retrieved May 31, 2018.
  11. https://www.milb.com/milb/news/top-minnesota-twins-prospect-royce-lewis-blasts-first-homer-of-2018/c-272007356
  12. "Royce Lewis Stats, Highlights, Bio | MiLB.com Stats | The Official Site of Minor League Baseball". MiLB.com. Retrieved August 28, 2018.
  13. "Top Twins prospect Royce Lewis promoted to Class A Fort Myers". Twin Cities. July 14, 2018. Retrieved August 28, 2018.
  14. "Pipeline 2018 midseason top prospect rankings". MLB.com. Retrieved August 28, 2018.
  15. "Royce Lewis Stats, Highlights, Bio - MiLB.com Stats - The Official Site of Minor League Baseball". MiLB.com. Retrieved October 12, 2018.
  16. "Minnesota Twins: Royce Lewis and Alex Kirilloff receive end of season awards". Puckett's Pond. August 21, 2018. Retrieved August 28, 2018.
  17. "Twins day at camp: Royce Lewis impresses but is sent down". Star Tribune. March 11, 2018. Retrieved March 12, 2019.
  18. https://www.cbssports.com/fantasy/baseball/news/twins-royce-lewis-back-at-high-a/
  19. "Breaking down the Top 100 Prospects list". Mlb.com. Retrieved April 15, 2019.
  20. Jim Callis (June 28, 2019). "Here are the 2019 Futures Game rosters". MLB.com. Retrieved June 28, 2019.
  21. https://www.startribune.com/twins-top-prospect-royce-lewis-looks-for-better-times/568193172/
  22. https://www.mlb.com/news/2019-arizona-fall-league-rosters
  23. William Boor (October 26, 2019). "Gleyber, Acuña, Hiura ... now Royce Lewis". MLB.com. Retrieved October 27, 2019.
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