Hunter Greene, taken one pick after Royce Lewis, to face Twins for first time

CINCINNATI – Six years ago, it was the debate raging in draft rooms for teams picking atop the 2017 MLB draft: Royce Lewis or Hunter Greene.

The Twins took Lewis with the No. 1 overall pick. Greene followed at No. 2 by the Cincinnati Reds. Greene will face the Twins in Wednesday's series finale. Lewis is expected to miss the game after he left Tuesday night's game with tightness in his left hamstring.

"He was [Shohei] Ohtani before Ohtani," Lewis said of Greene, who was on the cover of Sports Illustrated in high school. "He threw 100 mph. He hit 450-foot bombs. He played shortstop. It was electric to watch."

Being taken with the No. 1 pick caught Lewis off guard. He received more enthusiasm from San Diego (No. 3 pick), Tampa Bay (No. 4) and Atlanta (No. 5). A local Reds scout told Lewis that the team was planning to take a pitcher, so he thought the earliest he would be selected would be third by the Padres, who wanted him to play center field.

"None of my family was ready," Lewis said. "We were still getting the house ready. I think my grandma was still preparing some of the meals that we were going to make that day. No one was ready. Maybe half my family was looking at the TV like casually, 'Let's see who they're going to pick.' [The Twins] just never seemed interested. They always walked away so nonchalant."

Lewis and Greene often played in the same events on the youth baseball circuit in Southern California, many times on the same team, including the 15U and 18U Team USA squads.

The two players follow each other's playing careers closely. They texted each other a lot when Lewis was recovering from a torn ligament in his knee and Greene was recovering from Tommy John surgery, wishing each other luck.

The two faced each other for the first time in years Aug. 10 in St. Paul when they were both on Class AAA rehabilitation assignments. Lewis had a strikeout and a groundout in his two at-bats against his friend. Greene gave him his fastest pitch of the night.

"It's like playing a board game with your friends and family at home or cards," Lewis said. "You kind of have this intensity about the game. You get competitive about it, but after the game you go back to being the best of friends."

One day after Twins shortstop Carlos Correa left a game in the first inning after aggravating plantar fasciitis in his left foot, he underwent a magnetic resonance imaging exam Tuesday in Cincinnati.

Correa said he felt "almost a little pop" in his heel when he stopped under a fly ball in shallow left field.

"He came in still sore today," acting manager Jayce Tingler said.

Tingler didn't want to speculate on the severity of Correa's injury. It's likely he will remain out of the lineup Wednesday with the team's off day Thursday.

"It's too early to tell," Tingler said. "It's lit up on him before, and, usually, it's been a couple of days and he gets back in to where he can play. But it's just too early to tell."

With Correa out of the lineup, Kyle Farmer and Willi Castro will likely be the primary shortstops. Farmer started Tuesday night's game.

Lewis made 11 starts at shortstop last year, but the Twins plan to keep him strictly at third base.

• Rocco Baldelli, who is away from the team on paternity leave after his wife, Allie, gave birth to twin boys, isn't expected to rejoin the club until Friday. "Maybe if we lose today, he'll fly back in and be like, 'Enough is enough,' " Tingler said jokingly.

• The Twins had five players appear on rehab assignments during the St. Paul Saints' 4-2 win over Toledo on Tuesday at CHS Field. Chris Paddack threw three scoreless innings with five strikeouts while hitting 98 mph with his fastball, which would be the hardest pitch he has thrown in the majors.

Brock Stewart and Jorge Alcala each pitched one scoreless inning.

Stewart had one walk and one strikeout, touching 99 mph. If Stewart recovers as expected after his outing, it's possible he could rejoin the Twins as soon as Friday.

Nick Gordon had two hits in three at-bats with a double. Joey Gallo had a single in three at-bats with a walk.