CEDAR RAPIDS, IOWA – Royce Lewis is only 18 and already has his own bobblehead.
The Cedar Rapids Kernels gave away 1,000 of them last month, in only their second full week of the season, knowing his time there could be short. Fans lined up outside Veterans Memorial Stadium three hours before first pitch.
The real-life Lewis is batting .315 and wears a perpetual smile, much like the bobblehead. Everyone from manager Toby Gardenhire to the stadium ushers to Lewis' Cedar Rapids host family raves about the way he conducts himself.
A shortstop from California's Orange County, Lewis hasn't shrunk from the attention he's received since the Twins made him the No. 1 overall pick in last year's amateur draft and paid him a $6.7 million signing bonus.
Social media reaction was mixed on draft night, with some fans disappointed the Twins didn't take Sports Illustrated cover subject Hunter Greene, or Louisville standout Brendan McKay.
"It's not about proving people wrong," Lewis said last week, awaiting batting practice in the Cedar Rapids dugout. "It's about proving to the Twins that, 'You guys made the right decision.' "
The Twins showed their faith in Lewis last August when they moved him two steps up their minor league ladder, from the Gulf Coast League to Class A Cedar Rapids. They gave Lewis a three-week Midwest League taste and returned him there this April.
In a league where the average age is about 22, he entered Thursday with a .368 on-base percentage (36 points above the league norm) and was 13-for-14 in stolen-base attempts.