Royce Lewis, who homers in return, pays tribute to Derek Jeter in first at-bat at Yankee Stadium

NEW YORK – Royce Lewis mentioned it only to his parents, his fiancée and Bally Sports North broadcaster Trevor Plouffe, but he had something special planned for his first at-bat at Yankee Stadium.

Lewis stepped into the batter’s box, dug into the dirt, grabbed the bill of his helmet and put his right hand in the air toward the home-plate umpire. It was something he watched Hall of Famer Derek Jeter do countless times as a kid and he wanted to pay tribute to his favorite player in the ballpark.

It had one hitch.

Home-plate umpire Chris Segal thought Lewis wanted to use the one timeout he’s allotted for each at-bat.

“I just wanted to imitate [Jeter] and mimic him because he was my idol,” Lewis said. “To be here for the first time, I thought it was just a good ode to such a gentleman and a player that I very well respected. I did that and the umpire called time when I actually put my hand up. I’m not used to that because I don’t think they did that back in the day. I was just laughing with him because he’s like, ‘Oh, you didn’t mean to? Let’s bang that.’ I’m like, ‘It was just a one-time thing.’”

Lewis did his best Jeter impersonation on the field, too. He drew walks in his first two plate appearances before he hit a solo home run to left field off New York Yankees reliever Tommy Kahnle in the seventh inning.

He’s batting 1.000 this season after he hit a homer and a single on Opening Day.

“You know, I went 0-for-like-19 down in AAA,” said Lewis, who played in six games on a rehab assignment. “I got out a lot.”

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Teammates and coaches cautioned Lewis to take it easy on his rehab assignment after he recovered from a partially torn quad in his right leg. In his first rehab game, he singled in his first at-bat and then stole second on the next pitch.

He spoke with Twins manager Rocco Baldelli afterward, apologizing if it caused anyone to worry.

As much as people tell Lewis to prioritize his health and run at a slower speed, he admits his competitiveness takes over.

“Royce is going to play like Royce,” he said. “I’m really excited about that. I think that’s why we took some of that extra time and listening to the doctors about getting to full strength, so we could do that kind of thing. We don’t have to shut down or limit the running speed or anything like that.”

When Edouard Julien was demoted to Class AAA on Sunday, clearing a roster spot for Lewis, he was given some specific areas to improve, but the Twins are hoping he will regain his confidence in the minor leagues.

“He knows he has real adjustments that he’s going to have to make and there’s no better time than now to make those adjustments,” said Baldelli, who didn’t want to specify the adjustments. “It doesn’t make the conversation or the situation easy to deal with because it’s also an emotional time.

“You’ve got to do what you know is right for the team but also for the player. I think this is the right thing for Eddy.”

Julien, 25, delivered around league-average offensive production with a .309 on-base percentage, seven homers and 17 RBI in 58 games. Compared with last year, his strikeouts were up and his walks were down.

“He’s got a tremendous way about him, great personality, and I think the game was affecting him in some ways, which happens to everyone at one point or another,” Baldelli said. “I don’t blame him in any way for that. I think it’s just part of baseball.”

* Twins infield prospect Brooks Lee, sidelined for nearly two months because of a herniated disc in his back, was activated from the injured list Tuesday before St. Paul’s game against the Syracuse Mets was rained out. A doubleheader is scheduled for Thursday.

* Walker Jenkins (hamstring strain), the Twins’ 2023 first-round pick, was activated from the IL and rejoined Class A Fort Myers on Tuesday. Jenkins, a 19-year-old center fielder, had 11 hits in 28 at-bats with eight walks and two strikeouts at the rookie-level complex league during a rehab assignment.