Twins activate Royce Lewis for season debut, and also bring back Willi Castro from injured list

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The Minnesota Twins have returned third baseman Royce Lewis from his rehab assignment, clearing the way for his season debut after he strained his left hamstring in spring training.

The Twins reinstated both Lewis and multi-position player Willi Castro from the injured list on Monday, putting both regulars in play for the start of their three-game series against Baltimore on Tuesday. Castro missed 16 games with a strained right oblique muscle.

Infielders Mickey Gasper and Edouard Julien were sent to Triple-A St. Paul to make room on the roster with the Twins, who are still missing right fielder Matt Wallner (strained left hamstring) and second baseman Luke Keaschall (broken right forearm) with long-term injuries.

Lewis went 4 for 23 with one double in six games with St. Paul, finishing yet another rehabilitation that has defined his young career. The first overall pick in the 2017 draft, Lewis suffered his latest injury on March 16 while running out a ground ball in an exhibition game.

Lewis missed the 2021 season after he tore his right ACL when he slipped on ice at his Texas home during a freak winter storm. He needed reconstructive ACL surgery on the same knee in 2022, after a collision with the wall while making a catch during a brief audition in center field barely two weeks after his major league debut.

He opened the 2023 season on the injured list while still in recovery and debuted that year in late May. Lewis also had IL stints that season with a strained left oblique and a left hamstring strain. In 2024, he played in a career-high 82 games, enduring IL stints for a strained right quadriceps and a right adductor strain.

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