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Minnesota Twins slugger Royce Lewis saw himself batting third on Thursday during their opener against the Kansas City Royals. It will be an important season for Minnesota, who is coming off their first postseason victory in 21 years.
For Lewis, he got things started early. He hit a solo home run to give his team an early 1-0 lead in the first inning. His home run was a no-doubter, going 423 feet over the left-field wall.
Things have not been easy for Lewis over the last few seasons. He has torn his ACL twice and was sidelined last season due to an oblique injury. Staying on the field has been difficult for him.
The early home run has Twins fans fired up. They are happy to see Royce Lewis in the lineup and making things happen:
"Seen enough he's wining MVP" one fan posted.
"Bro stayed hot from 6 months ago in the postseason lmao" another fan posted.
Lewis seems to have stayed hot since his incredible postseason performance last season. In 22 at-bats, he hit four home runs and was walked four times.
Twins fans hold their breath as Royce Lewis leaves the game
Just a few innings after Royce Lewis blasted his first home run of the season for the Twins, he would leave the game. Lewis was helped off the field in the third inning after an apparent leg injury.
Lewis appeared to have injured himself while rounding second base on a Carlos Correa double. He was seen limping and experiencing pain, which is not a good sign.
As mentioned earlier, Lewis is no stranger to missing games while on the injured list. Fans were hoping that he would be able to come into the new year with no injury worries, but that's not the case.
That's unfortunate, as Lewis left the game after going 2-for-2 with a home run and a single. The club likely will not have an update till later.
For Minnesota, Edouard Julien came in for the injured Lewis. Last year, he appeared in 109 games, hitting .263/.381/.459 with 16 doubles, 16 home runs, and 37 RBIs.
Fortunately, Minnesota has some depth that they can work with, but it would rather have a healthy Lewis in their lineup. Hopefully, this is just a minor injury, and he will not miss much time.
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