Royce Lewis' entire professional baseball career has been a pursuit in reaching his potential.
Injuries have set him back time and again. And when on the field, he hasn't always put all the pieces together at once.
But the Minnesota Twins will gladly keep letting him try to ascend to his peak.
The Twins and Lewis agreed to a contract for the 2026 season on Thursday. It was the last day that salary arbitration-eligible players could get new terms without having to go into the actual arbitration process.
KSTP's Darren Wolfson reported that the salary Lewis will get in 2026 is $2.85 million.
MORE: Guardians take a step forward with Steven Kwan
Lewis was the No. 1 overall pick in the 2017 MLB Draft out of a high school in California.
He's 26 years old now, and he's coming off a season in which he hit just.237 with 13 home runs in 376 at bats. Lewis did steal a career-high 12 bases, which suggests he was at least feeling rather healthy when he was on the field.
Lewis has played 258 games across four MLB seasons. Overall, he's a.255 hitter with a.762 OPS.
The Twins should continue to rely on Lewis at third base for the most part, although he's also a DH candidate at times to keep him healthy.
Maybe this will be the year Lewis finally makes the leap, but there's no way to know for sure.
More MLB news:
- Team USA's projected WBC lineup is incredible
- Dominican Republic's projected WBC lineup is fierce
- Reds have a promising prospect named Ichiro Cano
- It's a good day to remember Bob Feller's brilliance and his time in the U.S. Navy
- How Aroldis Chapman is able to pitch for Great Britain in the WBC
- Hunter Pence's nephew has the best name and a 100 MPH fastball