Royce Lewis bent low to reach for a seventh-inning slider, raising his bat with confidence and joy as soon as he connected.
Lewis hopped along the first-base line as he let out a celebratory yell at his Minnesota Twins teammates in the dugout, before pivoting to finish the jog around the diamond following the pinch-hit, three-run drive that traveled 402 feet into the left-field seats for his 13th homer of the season.
Lewis and the Twins have been frustratingly short on those shout-worthy moments in 2025. It's only natural, then, that the 26-year-old third baseman was pumped up by that big hit that gave the Twins some late insurance in a 6-2 victory over Cleveland on Sunday that salvaged another unflattering series and afforded them the opportunity to relish the spoiler role against the surging division rival Guardians, who trail the Detroit Tigers by just one game.
More jarringly in his postgame reflection, though, was one of the reasons Lewis cited in savoring the experience of that clutch homer.
“You never know if it’s going to be your last at-bat here or what,” Lewis said. “You never know.”
As a player with only 252 career games on his resume who won't be eligible for free agency until 2029, the first overall pick in the 2017 draft who still presents significant upside to the Twins despite his injury-altered start in the major leagues, Lewis would be about the last guy on the list of potential trade candidates for the offseason.
The work that it takes to get back on the field, the work it takes to improve as an MLB player, is something Lewis is now embracing.
"You know, I'm an athlete," he says. "I think you could play anywhere when you're athletic, and I put a lot of emphasis in the in the offseason on defensive work and it paid off. It's going well. Obviously we could do a lot better, every day you could grow in this game and that's why I love this game. You can't just be talented and born like LeBron James is. It's what I love about this game so much is that there's so much you can learn. You can't just completely dominate the game. It takes so much hard work behind the scenes and that's what we did this offseason, and even this year. I've grown a lot. I think this year was a big year for me, to develop as a player."
But such is the state of flux the Twins have found themselves in at 67-89, eliminated from contention for the playoffs for a second straight year after an aggressive sell-off leading up to the trade deadline seven weeks ago. Asked a follow-up question in his postgame interview session on Sunday, Lewis acknowledged that he indeed has braced himself for the possibility of being dealt.
“I’m just here and enjoying my time with my teammates. I grew up playing with all these guys,” Lewis said, pondering the scenario in real time. “It would almost be like I grew up with one family then all of a sudden, ‘Hey, I’m going to college.’"
Lewis slumped badly in August, but he has shown signs recently of finding his place at the plate. He's batting .284 with four homers, 13 RBIs and nine steals in as many attempts in 19 games in September.
Lewis entered the 2024 season with a career .913 OPS with 17 homers and 57 RBIs in 70 games, but the knee and hamstring injuries sure haven't helped him refine his swing mechanics over time. Lewis has also admitted a hesitancy to embrace a midstream adjustment to his approach, which in turn has made it a little harder for the coaching staff to make an impact on his progress.
Sunday, he hit a pinch-hit, three-run shot in the seventh inning to help the Twins end the Cleveland Guardians 10-game winning streak, and he said after the game he came into the at-bat full of confidence, a far cry from how he was hitting over the summer.
"We already know these things whether you're pinch-hitting or starting, and so it just makes it that much easier when you're pinch-hitting," Lewis explained. "You're like, all right, it's literally this guy, and I kind of had an idea that they'd go righty on righty. That's where the analytics doesn't play a good thing into the into the game because I felt comfortable against this guy. I've had a double, a homer off of him, so I was really excited when they changed from the lefty to the righty. I gained more confidence and then I knew exactly what I needed to do up in that at-bat."
After a spring training hamstring strain delayed his start to the season until May, Lewis aggravated the injury in June. That was a less severe strain, but he returned after a 15-game absence and now believes he rushed back to help the struggling team.
“My body wasn’t necessarily fully trusting. My mind, my body were off, so it sets you back and then you have 75 at-bats where it’s kind of building up spring training timing again,” Lewis said. "It’s just hard to manage, man. It’s extremely hard.”
Now he's got six more games to carry some good vibes into 2026, whether with the Twins — or elsewhere.
“My body feels great. I feel really good," he said, "and I’m looking forward to carrying that into next year.”
Minnesota Twins (67-89, fourth in the AL Central) vs. Texas Rangers (79-77, third in the AL West)
Arlington, Texas; Tuesday, 7:05 p.m. Pregame at 6:30 on 830 WCCO and the Audacy App (in-market restrictions apply)
PITCHING PROBABLES: Twins: Zebby Matthews (4-6, 5.97 ERA, 1.58 WHIP, 82 strikeouts); Rangers: Patrick Corbin (7-10, 4.33 ERA, 1.35 WHIP, 124 strikeouts)
BETMGM SPORTSBOOK LINE: Rangers -138, Twins +116; over/under is 8 1/2 runs
BOTTOM LINE: The Texas Rangers host the Minnesota Twins to open a three-game series.
Texas has a 47-31 record in home games and a 79-77 record overall. The Rangers have a 53-19 record in games when they have more hits than their opponents.
Minnesota is 29-46 in road games and 67-89 overall. The Twins are 33-16 in games when they did not give up a home run.
The teams match up Tuesday for the fourth time this season.
TOP PERFORMERS: Wyatt Langford has 22 home runs, 74 walks and 62 RBIs while hitting .242 for the Rangers. Josh Jung is 10 for 40 with three doubles, a home run and six RBIs over the last 10 games.
Byron Buxton has 21 doubles, seven triples and 31 home runs while hitting .266 for the Twins. Kody Clemens is 10 for 37 with a double and three home runs over the last 10 games.
LAST 10 GAMES: Rangers: 3-7, .230 batting average, 3.70 ERA, outscored by six runs
Twins: 3-7, .244 batting average, 5.64 ERA, outscored by 17 runs
INJURIES: Rangers: Jon Gray: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Corey Seager: 10-Day IL (appendectomy), Evan Carter: 60-Day IL (wrist), Nathan Eovaldi: 15-Day IL (rotator cuff), Marcus Semien: 10-Day IL (foot), Sam Haggerty: 10-Day IL (oblique), Cody Bradford: 60-Day IL (elbow), Josh Sborz: 60-Day IL (shoulder)
Twins: Pablo Lopez: 15-Day IL (forearm), Matt Wallner: 10-Day IL (oblique), Justin Topa: 15-Day IL (oblique), Ryan Jeffers: 7-Day IL (head), Alan Roden: 60-Day IL (thumb), Anthony Misiewicz: 15-Day IL (shoulder), David Festa: 15-Day IL (shoulder)
The Associated Press contributed to this story.