Twins put Royce Lewis on injured list, call up top prospect Brooks Lee

Baseball transactions can be both thrilling occasions and devastating disappointments, all at the same time.

So it was on Wednesday for Royce Lewis, who learned he’ll spend most, if not all, of July on the injured list, after already sitting out nine weeks this season. And for 2022 first-rounder Brooks Lee, who made his major league debut Wednesday in Lewis’ place.

“It’s pretty surreal. I’m just so happy,” said Lee, a 23-year-old switch-hitting infielder who owned a 1.029 OPS and seven home runs in just 20 games for Class AAA St. Paul. When he called his parents’ home in San Luis Obispo, Calif., “my mom and my dad and my sister all got on the phone at the same time. Everyone was crying. A special moment.”

The Twins considered other options for Lewis’ roster spot, including Matt Wallner, the International League’s player of the month for June, and infielder Edouard Julien. But the ease of fitting Lee in the lineup — though a shortstop in college and the minors, he’ll mostly absorb Lewis’ playing time at third base for now — was the deciding factor, Twins’ President of Baseball Operations Derek Falvey said.

“This kid’s hit from both sides of the plate. He’s even better righthanded [now] than he has been over the past few years, and he’s got a really good feel for defense,” Falvey said of Lee, who despite missing most of April and May with a herniated disc in his back, is slugging .523 against righthanded pitching and a whopping .743 against lefties. “This is a big jump. He’s excited, but this is a kid that’s ready for this moment and will be a big part of our future.”

Lee was named to the All-Star Futures Game on Tuesday, but he’ll send his regrets for that showcase.

One day after a somber Lewis braced for “horrible news” about his latest muscle injury, it was confirmed by a magnetic resonance imaging test. The injury isn’t quite as severe as the quadriceps strain that kept the Twins’ third baseman sidelined for nine weeks to start the season, but it’s still a Grade 2 strain of his right adductor muscle, adjacent to that quad.

The Twins placed Lewis on the injured list and plan to re-examine him after the team reconvenes from the upcoming All-Star break.

The emotional impact of that determination affected more than just the oft-injured Lewis.

“It’s a difficult day [but] we’ll get past it and get over the initial emotion of it and get Royce on his way back to being on the field,” Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said. “It’s difficult. It’s emotional. … But he’s definitely going to have to sit out for a little while and get healthy.”

Lewis was not available to discuss his condition, perhaps the most telling statement about how much his growing injury history weighs on the media-savvy infielder. Lewis was injured Tuesday simply by running the bases, taking second on a stand-up double — just as the quad injury he suffered on Opening Day occurred while running from first to third.

“It’s a head-scratcher,” said Falvey. After “that significant quad strain, you know there’s going to be some challenges and some maintenance there in that leg, and I’m sure for him now feeling like he’s got something close to [that], it’s just disappointing. … When he felt it, it was pretty clear that he’s dealing with another muscle strain, and we’re just going to try to get him back on the field as soon as we can.”

With midafternoon rain in Thursday’s forecast, the Tigers and Twins agreed to move up their scheduled game, the Tigers’ last at Target Field this season, by one hour. First pitch is now scheduled for 12:10 p.m.