Twins' Royce Lewis headed back to injured list because of strained oblique

The grounder to third was weakly hit toward third base, and Royce Lewis thought he had a chance to beat the play for a hit.

Until his abdominal muscles started barking.

Lewis grabbed his left side about halfway to first base, and slowed down as the Orioles threw him out. And just like that, after only a month back in the major leagues, the rookie infielder's comeback was sidetracked yet again.

Lewis, who twice has missed a calendar year following knee surgery, was diagnosed with a strained left oblique muscle. He will be placed on the 10-day injured list on Sunday, with the Twins hopeful he won't miss more time than that.

"There's no real conversation to be had about it," Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said of Lewis, who is batting .326 with four homers and an .845 OPS in 26 games this season. "It's tough. He's worked hard to get back and he's playing well right now. But he's going to have to get healthy, and right now, we're going to get him healthy."

The Twins made no announcement, but Jose Miranda was pulled from the Class AAA Saints lineup Saturday before the Saints beat the Gwinnett Stripers 10-6 at CHS Field. That's likely an indication that Miranda, who opened the season as the Twins third baseman, will be recalled to replace Lewis.

Miranda batted .220 with three homers in 35 games this year, but has hit .279 with two homers over his past 10 games with the Saints.

Years ago, each league's All-Star manager played a central role in selecting the teams, and frequently phoned their fellow managers to receive recommendations about which of their players was most deserving.

These days? "Dusty [Baker, who will manage the AL Stars] has enough going on managing his own team," Baldelli said. "There's no check-in with every team anymore. Most of those decisions are made by the league."

Well, by a vote of the players, too. Those decisions will be made public on Sunday afternoon, and though he hasn't been asked by MLB for his opinion about who should represent the Twins at the July 11 game in Seattle, Baldelli said he believes three of his players — all of them pitchers — deserve to be selected.

"Sonny [Gray] and Joe [Ryan] could and should be All-Stars," Baldelli said. "[Jhoan] Duran is a very easy guy to lobby for, the way he's thrown the ball this year. Those guys have had wonderful first halves. I'm hoping they get acknowledged for everything they've done, because they've been great."

Three Twins pitchers on the All-Star team would set a record. Never have three Twins pitchers been picked for the same All-Star Game; they have had two pitchers selected eight times, most recently in 2019 when Jose Berrios and Jake Odorizzi made the team.

Gray's 2.67 ERA ranks third in the American League, he hasn't allowed more than three runs in a game, and he's given up only three home runs in 16 starts. He represented the A's at the 2015 All-Star Game and the Reds in 2019, but didn't pitch in either game.

"He's throwing three distinct breaking balls, and he's executing those pitches really well right now," Baldelli said. "The way he's manipulating those pitches within an at-bat is excellent. He's just holding it for longer stretches right now, where he's just dialed in."

Duran owns a 1.41 ERA in 32 innings with 42 strikeouts, and though he's walking hitters more frequently than last season, he has used his 103-mph fastball to save 12 games in 14 opportunities, including Saturday's 1-0 victory at Baltimore. Ryan, who won each of his first five starts this season, has a 3.44 ERA and 105 strikeouts in 96⅔ innings, and last month pitched the Twins' first complete-game shutout since 2018.

Minnesota position player appears likely to be picked for the AL team, just the seventh time in Twins history that it's happened.

ESPN will air the announcement of 23 reserves and pitchers from each league at 4:30 p.m.