Twins won’t activate Royce Lewis from injured list this weekend

HOUSTON – Royce Lewis, who came off the injured list last year while the Twins were in Houston, won’t repeat that experience this weekend, manager Rocco Baldelli confirmed — reluctantly — Friday as his team began a nine-game road trip.

“Here? No, he’s not coming here,” Baldelli said, before realizing he had violated his policy of not commenting on the team’s still-fluid plans for its injured third baseman. “I just told you more than I planned on telling you. I’ll talk about Royce one day at a time. He’s DHing today” for the St. Paul Saints, with whom he is serving a rehab assignment as he recovers from a strained right quad.

Lewis struck out three times in going 0-for-4 in Friday’s 8-2 loss at Rochester, dropping his batting average to .158 (3-for-19) in five rehab games. The Saints were held to seven hits while committing three errors against the Red Wings.

The Twins have until June 14 to activate Lewis, so there is no hurry to make that call if they decide that, having been out for nine weeks now, Lewis needs more work to get ready. It also puts off a difficult decision about making room on the roster.

Jose Miranda, who was batting .278 with five home runs entering Friday while filling in at third base for Lewis, seems likely to remain on the roster, probably getting at-bats as a first baseman or designated hitter. That means the choice could come down to sending a young player such as Alex Kirilloff or Trevor Larnach back to the minors, or perhaps releasing a slumping veteran such as Manuel Margot or Kyle Farmer, each of whom has hit below .200 for most of the season.

“That’s something that is coming, but not something I’ve spent a lot of time on right now,” Baldelli said. “That’s something we’ll get to when we’re sure that Royce’s rehab has gone really well. Then there are always going to be things that we have to make decisions on.”

Friday marked the first anniversary of the Twins’ victory in bankruptcy court over Diamond Sports Group, which had refused to pay an installment of the $54 million rights fee its regional network, Bally Sports North, owed to televise Twins games in 2023. The court hearing took place about a mile from Minute Maid Park, where the Twins were coincidentally playing then, and now.

The Twins got their money, but their relationship with BSN, renewed for only one year, remains problematic; Saturday marks one month since Comcast cable systems dropped Diamond’s various networks in another dispute over money, leaving thousands of Twins fans in Minneapolis with no way to watch the team’s games.

It’s not just fans who are suffering from the disruption, Baldelli said.

“We have families of players who haven’t been able to watch games. So yeah, even in our own clubhouse, we feel that, and we know it means a lot,” the manager said. “We want our fans to be able to see us. … Every household that wants to watch the games should be able to.”

Some will be able to on Sunday when the series finale in Houston is aired nationally on Roku, a streaming service. Astros play-by-play announcer Todd Kalas and Twins analyst LaTroy Hawkins will call the game.

Jorge Alcala’s performance Thursday, in which the reliever reached 100 mph with a fastball for the first time since 2021, has Baldelli rethinking the righthander’s role. Five of Alcala’s 11 appearances this season have been for more than one inning, but that may change.

“Three weeks ago, his fastball was 92, 93, 94. If we want the guy to throw 99, we probably shouldn’t be throwing him 48 pitches an outing” as they did May 7 against Seattle, Baldelli said. “He’s working his way into the leverage mix,” meaning more important roles, one inning at a time.

Staff writer Bobby Nightengale contributed to this report.