Minnesota Twins rookie infielder Royce Lewis didn’t see enough action this past regular season to compete with the likes of Gunner Henderson and others for the AL Rookie of the Year.
But in the appearances that Lewis made for the American League Central champions, he was all sorts of awesome. That included hitting four grand slams, breaking Alex Rodriguez’s rookie record in the process.
With Minnesota hosting the Toronto Blue Jays in Game 1 of their American League Wild Card series Tuesday afternoon, Lewis made even more history.
The former first-round pick homered off Jays starter Kevin Gausman in the first inning to give Minnesota a 2-0 lead.
Lewis then took Gausman deep again with a solo blast over the right-center field fence in the third inning to give the Twins a 3-0 lead.
This put the 24-year-old California native in the MLB Playoff record books. He becomes just the third player in the history of the postseason to homer in each of his first two playoff at-bats, joining former Twins star Gary Gaetti (1987) and Tampa Bay Rays third baseman Evan Longoria (2008) on that exclusive list.
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Royce Lewis stats (2023): .309 average, 15 HR, 52 RBI, .921 OPS
As mentioned above, Lewis would be in the conversation for the AL Rookie of the Year conversation if he had played pretty much an entire season.
His 162-game pace would’ve translated to 42 homers and 145 RBI. Not too shabby, and it has the Twins potentially on the verge of ending their historic postseason losing streak.