Royce Lewis’ demotion to Triple-A St. Paul earlier this month apparently made the Twins re-think their giveaway promotion of his jersey for the June 6 home game against the Royals.
The promotional calendar for 2026 home games originally had the first 10,000 fans that day receiving a replica No. 23 jersey. Now the promotional calendar and a ticket spokesperson confirmed that fans will receive a Byron Buxton t-shirt instead.
A Buxton bobblehead will be given away to the first 10,000 fans at the game with the Cardinals on June 27. That offering was on the original promotional schedule.
The mercurial Lewis, who has played parts of five seasons with the Twins, has a career storyline among the most curious in club history. With both a dizzying array of injuries and hitting extremes, Lewis is a captivating figure who once looked like one of MLB’s brightest young players but at other times appears out of place on the roster.
Lewis, who turns 27 June 5, had what appeared to be a breakout season in 2023 when in 217 at bats he hit .309 with 15 home runs and 52 RBI. In the postseason he became the third player in MLB history to homer in his first two postseason at bats. He set the stage for the dramatic during the regular season by hitting four grand slams in a 20-game span as he helped the Twins win the AL Central Division title.
Good Royce/bad Royce. The last two seasons his batting averages were .233 and .237. He was hitting .163 when the Twins demoted him on May 19 to the Saints.
The hope is Lewis will find confidence and rhythm in his swing. Against inferior pitching to what he sees in the bigs, the right-handed hitting infielder has gone on a tear. With the Saints in seven games and 27 at bats he has whacked six home runs.
Lewis has supposedly slumped in recent seasons because of struggles with fast balls and his prevalence for chasing pitches. In response he has sought advice and made adjustments to his batting stance.
Whether he can work himself back to better production in the majors won’t be known for a while. The Twins, though, have sent a message with his demotion and cancellation of the June 6 giveaway.
And there’s more. Twins’ manager Derek Shelton has moved shortstop Brooks Lee over to third base, the position once thought to be locked up by Lewis. That’s a development that might block Lewis’ path to regular playing time when he makes his presumptive return to the big-league club.
Worth Noting
It’s telling that Anthony Edwards of the Timberwolves wasn’t included on the three All-NBA teams the league recently announced. Regarded as a top 10 player, media voters didn’t see him that way during the past season.
Uber talented and competitive, Edwards could improve his team by showing more maturity in his leadership role. His stock will also rise if the Wolves acquire a quality point guard who can complement Edwards and teammates with playmaking.
Edwards was named to the All-NBA second team in 2024 and 2025.
A Gophers football authority talking to Sports Headliners about quarterback Drake Lindsey and his spring arrest in Arkansas for underage drinking and possessing fake identification. “We’ll see if it leads into (suspension for) the Eastern Illinois (opening) game. I don’t want to make too big of a deal out of it.”
BetMGM set the win total for Big Ten football teams earlier this month. Minnesota is projected at 6.5, the same as Nebraska, Wisconsin and UCLA. Of the Big Ten’s 18 teams, only five others have fewer wins predicted.
Indiana and Oregon are the leaders at 10.5.