Lewis starts running progression; Ryan showing uncharacteristic trend

MINNEAPOLIS -- It wasn’t much of a fun evening for the Twins at Target Field on Friday, but there was some good news in the afternoon.

Royce Lewis has begun a running progression a week after he suffered a strained left hamstring. Lewis estimated he ran at about 80 percent on Thursday and said he was very encouraged by how he felt one day later.

“I think the day after is always important,” Lewis said, “and today was a good day.”

There is still no timetable for Lewis’ return to game action, but both he and the club are encouraged by his progress. Unlike the moderate hamstring injury that sidelined him for a lengthy period at the start of the year, this one is considered mild.

“I think things are going really well,” Lewis said. “I’m taking this as a really good mental break, kind of like an All-Star break for me and my body and more so my mind. I feel really, really good right now.”

Lewis said that beyond running, he’s participating in all other baseball activities. Friday was a slightly lighter day for him, but he expects to follow it with a full day of work Saturday.

After that, he expects to have another lighter day Sunday followed by running on Monday and Tuesday. The next step to keep an eye out for will be when he begins running the bases and making turns, which tends to be an indicator that a rehabilitation stint is imminent. Lewis is not at that point yet.

“[Saturday] will be a bigger day probably” he said. “We’re hoping to get on the field for BP. Totally normal day. That’s where I’m at. I’m feeling great.”

After the first hamstring strain cost him more than a month at the start of the season, Lewis scuffled at the plate for a bit. However, he had started to heat up at the time of the new injury. On the year he has a .202/.282/.303 slash line with two home runs in 30 games. He was 11-for-28 (.393) in the last nine games before he was shelved again.

Uncharacteristic Ryan
Right-hander Joe Ryan had a bit of a strange night. About 65 percent of his pitches in the 17-6 loss went for strikes, yet he walked three batters -- an unusually high total for him. It was a continuation of a surprising trend. Ryan, one of the most reliable strike-throwers around, has been walking batters at an unusual clip -- 11 in his past four starts, including three starts with three walks each. In his first 11 starts of 2025, he walked a total of nine batters.

“No one particular thing, and truthfully I couldn’t tell you why it’s happening,” said manager Rocco Baldelli. “He can still get in the zone. Joe is a very good strike-thrower, so I have great confidence that if he focuses his energy on getting back to pounding the zone, in all counts, he can do it.”

One partial explanation is that Ryan is making a conscious effort not to “give in,” and simply throw a strike for the sake of throwing a strike. Some teams also foul off a lot of pitches, which can run up a pitch count and a strike total, and also ultimately allow hitters to draw walks.

“That’s kind of their plan,” he said, “is just foul a lot of things off, try to walk. Get a couple hits, steal some bases, and they did that. I threw a ton of pitches in a pretty short amount of time, which is frustrating.”

Larnach scratched
Trevor Larnach was in the initial lineup that the Twins posted Friday, batting fourth and serving as the designated hitter. However, he was a late scratch due to what the club called a right hand contusion. Ryan Jeffers took his place at DH.

Larnach said that the issue stems from his being hit by a pitch in the first inning of Thursday’s win in Cincinnati. He remained in the game and tallied a double and a walk. He is not expected to miss a significant amount of time.

Matthews throws
Right-hander Zebby Matthews, who is on the injured list due to a right shoulder strain, threw for the first time Friday since suffering the injury. It was only flat-ground catch, and Matthews remains some time away from game action, but it was still progress for the second-year starter. No timetable has been given for Matthews’ return.