Royce Lewis Demoted by Minnesota Twins

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Royce Lewis, Minnesota Twins
Credit: IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

The Minnesota Twins currently own a 22-26 record as they fight to keep their hopes of a competitive summer alive. The team’s biggest problems come on the pitching staff. They continue to lose starters to the IL and their bullpen was terrible when the season started.

Meanwhile, the batting lineup as a whole has been a bright spot for the MN Twins overall, but there are some stragglers riding the struggle bus. Over the weekend, Matt Wallner was demoted to Triple-A after hitting .167 with a .551 OPS in his first 120 at bats of the season.

Royce Lewis — who is currently hitting .163 average and .539 OPS (31 games) — has been dreading the day he receives the same treatment as Wallner. In fact, the former No. 1 overall pick even admitting publicly during a recent interview that he can’t stop looking at top infield prospect Kaelen Culpepper, in his rearview mirror.

MN Twins send Royce Lewis to St. Paul

Now, after watching Monday’s game from the dugout, Lewis’ worst fear is being realized. As first reported by Meatsauce Paul Lambert (KFAN), Royce is being sent down to Triple-A St. Paul, meaning Culpepper is about to be his new minor league teammate.

The St. Paul Saints are currently in the midst of a two-week homestand, so Royce won’t immediately have to hit the road with his new team. Traveling is probably Lewis’ biggest concern, when it comes to his minor league demotion.

In case you aren’t aware, the Saints do not travel to their away games like the Twins do, nor do they stay in the same kinds of hotels.

But Royce has nobody to blame for being sent down than himself. This is now multiple years of regression for the soon-to-be 27-year-old. After posting a .825 OPS through his first 152 big league games from 2022 through most of 2024, Lewis finished the final month of that 2024 Twins collapse with a .500 OPS in his last 26 games.

And that was only the start. In 2025, Lewis batted just .237 with a .671 OPS in 106 games played, the most of his career. This year, not only have those aforementioned numbers fallen even further off a cliff, but his WAR is now down to a -0.3, his OPS+ an absolutely atrocious 53 OPS+.

This offseason, Royce Lewis thought he put in the type of work necessary to spin his career trajectory back in the right direction. Unfortunately, it hasn’t translated to success on the field. And now, he’s sunk to the lowest point of his baseball career, outside of past injuries he’s had to work back from.

Road back to for Lewis could be longer than he wants

For now, it seems that the Minnesota Twins are going with a short-term lineup fix. Orlando Arcia is not in the St. Paul Saints lineup, presumably coming back to the big leagues in place of Lewis.

In 39 games this season, he has batted .318 with a .932 OPS, which should give the lineup a boost from nothing, which is what Royce has been providing the lineup for most of this season.

It’s unlikely the 31-year-old Arcia rediscovers his All-Star level of production from 2023, over a longer sample size, however. If Arcia eventually flames out, will Lewis be playing well enough to replace him?

Or… could his worst fear become realized, because Kaelen Culpepper is knocking on the big league door with his play down in St. Paul of late. He can play three infield positions, and has been getting more work in at third base, in recent weeks.

Culpepper currently owns a .815 OPS in 39 games at Triple-A. He has really turned it on in the month of May, batting .291 with a 995 OPS (4 HR, (2) 2B, 14 RBI, 4 SB, 10 BB and just 11 K), showcasing his elite power, speed, and glove skills.

Going forward, Royce Lewis needs to focus less on what his new teammate is doing, and more on his own game. It’s now up to him to produce at Triple-A like he’s already proven he can. Otherwise, the future he foretold a last week will become a self-fulfilling prophecy.

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