MINNEAPOLIS — Though the return date is yet to be determined, the Minnesota Twins already are preparing for when Royce Lewis is back in the major leagues.The first pick of the 2017 draft continued his absurd destruction of Triple-A pitching Wednesday afternoon, going 3-for-5 with two singles and a grand slam, his eighth homer in 11 games since being demoted.Lewis drove in five more runs and is hitting .370/.431/.957 with 19 RBIs in 51 plate appearances since he went down May 19. Perhaps even more telling is that Lewis has struck out only 10 times at St. Paul after whiffing in approximately 34 percent of his plate appearances from April 21 to May 17.While the offensive output looks similar, Wednesday afternoon’s appearance had a much different look. Lewis started at second base and turned a 4-6-3 double play. A day earlier, he took grounders at first base.With Lewis’ bat speeding up a timeline for a promotion, the Twins are creating ways to potentially get him back in the lineup once he returns to the majors.“We’re thinking about all this stuff on a daily basis,” Twins general manager Jeremy Zoll said earlier this week. “We all know that these things are really fluid. Our lineup and defensive configuration was one way, and then we look up a few days later and Kody Clemens is in center field. … Obviously, a lot of these things interplay with one another. I think a lot of these things are moment in time as we try to sort through them.”Royce Lewis has played only third base this season with the Twins. He started at second base Wednesday with St. Paul and took groundballs at first base before Tuesday’s game. (Matt Krohn / Imagn Images)Before he was optioned to St. Paul, Lewis was the Twins’ everyday third baseman. The Twins used Lewis’ demotion to move Brooks Lee from shortstop to third base because they believed it’s a better fit for how the team’s roster is currently constructed. With Lewis down, the Twins are relying on Tristan Gray, Ryan Kreidler and Orlando Arcia at shortstop with Lee at third.If and when Lewis returns, he could replace one of the trio of current shortstops on the active roster, which potentially could prompt Lee’s return to shortstop. Or the Twins may keep Lee at third given he’s been one of the team’s more consistent offensive producers over the past six weeks.No matter what the Twins do, there are no easy answers because they have a glut of young infielders. That’s why Lewis started at second base Wednesday and took grounders at first the day before.“(Versatility is) very important for all of our players,” Twins manager Derek Shelton said. “There’s very few guys that we feel are going to be locked into one spot. … We will continue to explore, not only with players in the minor leagues in Royce’s case, but players at the major-league level.”The Twins briefly used Lewis at second base in 2024 as they tried to open an infield spot for the eventual return of injured shortstop Carlos Correa. After he initially accepted it, Lewis made clear he wasn’t comfortable switching positions in the middle of the season. Lewis’ big fear, one that was realized in a Sept. 4, 2024, loss at Tampa Bay, was he would make a costly mistake while the Twins were in a pennant race.But similar to how they hope Lewis is gaining confidence at the plate in a lower-pressure environment at St. Paul, they want him to also get comfortable moving around the infield in case he needs to do so in the big leagues.“You’re just not positive which way things are going to break at any given moment,” Zoll said. “Oftentimes, when we send a player down in the past, it’ll be, ‘Let’s just have him focus on this position or that position.’ And, ‘Are you sure not this position, too?’ And inevitably, it’ll feel like the need pops up at the other position. It’s harder to predict than sometimes we make it out to be because of a mix of injuries and unexpected performance factors in any direction, good or poor.”What’s become quite clear is everyone in the Twins clubhouse is hyperaware what Lewis is doing in the minors. For two weeks, teammates have monitored the situation closely with several key veterans routinely texting Lewis positive reinforcement.Minutes after Wednesday’s 8-0 loss to the Chicago White Sox, a reporter mentioned to center fielder Byron Buxton that Lewis not only hit a grand slam, but he also started a double play. Even though he’d spent most of the afternoon playing for the Twins, Buxton already knew.Though Buxton misses hearing Lewis’ voice and having his upbeat personality in the clubhouse, he’s sticking to text messages for now, knowing his message is clear.“Everybody knows what he’s doing, what he’s trying to accomplish and what he can do,” Buxton said. “Let him be. It’s all about picking him up and making sure that he’s good and knowing we got his back. It’s tough. Positivity. There’s too much negativity going around. So, stay positive. That’s the biggest thing I’m teaching him.”Following Lewis’ May 19 demotion, Shelton suggested he was in need of a reset. The new Twins manager hoped Lewis would perform well enough to create a “pathway” for his eventual return to the majors.As Lewis continues to destroy minor-league pitching, Shelton increasingly sees the viability of that path.“I give Royce a ton of credit,” Shelton said. “He’s gone down there, he’s worked, and he’s had good at-bats. He’s doing things right. Those are all good signs.”Jun 4, 2026Connections: Sports EditionSpot the pattern. Connect the termsFind the hidden link between sports terms