Royce Lewis returns to Twins after rehab stint in St. Paul; Willi Castro goes on IL

As Royce Lewis worked out at Target Field about a week before he started his rehabilitation assignment with the St. Paul Saints, Twins strength coach Chuck Bradway told Lewis he expected a home run in his first minor league game.

Lewis homered in his second at-bat with the Saints, and no one was surprised that Lewis needed only four minor league games before he was activated from the injured list. Lewis was back in the Twins' lineup for Tuesday's series opener against the Detroit Tigers after missing six weeks because of an oblique strain. He went 1-for-3 and hit an RBI single in the 8-5 victory.

In four rehab games, Lewis totaled five hits in 12 at-bats with two homers and three RBI. Willi Castro was put on the 10-day injured list, retroactive to Saturday, with a mild left oblique strain.

"I'm seeing it well," said Lewis, who batted .326 in 26 games before his injury. "We put in a lot of work. We had three or four weeks to really build up in the cages. I just went out there and played the game I always play."

Lewis drew three walks in 16 plate appearances during his rehab assignment. It's the same number of walks he had in 99 plate appearances during his first stretch in the majors this year, which he attributes to the automated balls-strikes system used in Class AAA.

MLB officials say there likely won't be an automated strike zone in the big leagues in 2024, and perhaps not in 2025.

"They should look into how many walks are down there, and if they want to speed the game up, that would be backwards," Lewis said. "If you want my opinion as a hitter, and want me to get paid more, I would bring it up as soon as possible. I think Juan Soto would walk 200 times in a season and Barry Bonds' [walks] record would be broken. [The zone] is really tight."

Lewis admitted there were some pitches he took that surprised him when they were called balls, particularly elevated fastballs.

"I walked three times there in 12 to 15 at-bats, and up here I walked three times in 100. Does that tell you something?" Lewis said. "As a hitter, it makes it a lot easier. I think they should be careful. But who am I? I'm not Mike Trout."

There is always some fear with oblique injuries, but Castro is confident his Grade 1 strain won't put the rest of his season in jeopardy.

Castro felt some side pain in the batting cages before Friday's game in Philadelphia, and it was sore when he woke up Saturday.

"It was something that I'd never felt," Castro said. "When I went to check on the swings, I couldn't swing righthanded. It was really tight. Lefty, it's OK. I still feel it a little bit, but it's not something that's going to keep me off the field. They'd rather put me on the IL, so I can get good in the next 10 days."

• Starting pitcher Joe Ryan, who is on the 15-day IL with a left groin strain, threw a bullpen session Tuesday. Assuming he recovers well, the Twins expect Ryan to begin a rehab assignment in St. Paul this week.

• Alex Kirilloff has begun taking swings off a tee as he recovers from a right shoulder strain. He received a cortisone shot to speed up the healing process around the beginning of the month, and he says it helped calm the inflammation in his shoulder. There is no timeline for Kirilloff to begin a rehab assignment.

• Edouard Julien was out of Tuesday's lineup because of hamstring tightness, Baldelli said.

• The Indianapolis Indians jumped to a 5-1 lead by the second inning and never looked back on Tuesday night, beating the St. Paul Saints 8-5 in the opener of a six-game homestand at CHS Field. Saints starter Randy Dobnak took the loss after giving up 11 hits and seven runs in four innings.