MINNEAPOLIS -- The Twins welcomed back two key players to their lineup on Tuesday after activating third baseman Royce Lewis and utilityman Willi Castro from the 10-day injured list the day prior. To make room for Castro and Lewis on the 26-man roster, the Twins optioned Mickey Gasper and Edouard Julien to Triple-A St. Paul.
“It feels like Opening Day for me, and I’m really excited for the opportunity,” said Lewis prior to the Twins’ 9-1 win over the Orioles at Target Field.
While Lewis went 0-for-4 in his 2025 debut, his impact on the lineup was felt immediately. The Twins rank 23rd in MLB with 3.8 runs scored per game and had hit only 28 homers on the year before Tuesday. That total climbed to 30 after Carlos Correa and Byron Buxton homered on the night.
“It feels like our team is complete when Royce is in the lineup, and Willi Castro,” Correa said. “I feel really good about where our team stands right now.”
The other two-thirds of the Twins’ Big 3 had huge nights at the plate. Buxton also doubled and drove in four runs. Correa was 3-for-4 with three RBIs. And Castro, an All-Star last season, returned in style with a hit, a walk and two runs scored.
“It definitely lengthens us in a lot of different ways,” manager Rocco Baldelli said about the offensive impact of Lewis and Castro returning. “We feel like we’re getting stronger and we’re getting back to a place where we put a lot of our regulars on the field on a daily basis.”
Injuries are nothing new for Lewis, who has dealt with a barrage of health woes since being selected first overall in the 2017 MLB Draft. The third baseman has played just 152 games at the Major League level in his career across three seasons, though he has flashed All-Star potential at times.
“I’m tired of being the guy that’s on the IL,” Lewis said. “Seems like these injury bugs, they just stick on one guy for a while. Hopefully I got mine off.”
Now the trick is to avoid further injuries, a task that Lewis hopes will come more easily with experience.
“I’ve just got to play a little bit smarter. That’s what some of these other guys I’ve seen play the game at a high level do to be able to play 162 [games],” Lewis said. “If I had Bobby Witt [Jr.] speed, I think I’d run a lot, but I’m not there anymore with all the injuries, so it’s just play smart whenever I get in the box.”
Castro, 28, earned his first All-Star selection a year ago, producing career highs in homers (12) and RBIs (60) while making at least 27 defensive appearances at five different positions (2B, 3B, SS, LF, CF). He batted ninth and played left field on Tuesday.
“It’s pretty special when your team MVP from last year is hitting ninth,” catcher Ryan Jeffers said. “We’re definitely a very deep and complete team when we’re able to roll out Willi and Royce in that lineup. I think we’ve been playing good ball for a while now. It’s just we haven’t been getting that big hit here and that big hit there, but it seems like we’re starting to get that and we’re starting to play really good baseball.”
Baldelli was asked about how he planned to use Castro, and his response spoke volumes about his value to the team.
“I haven’t actually thought about that one bit, and that’s kind of the beauty of Willi Castro: You don’t have to plan things out for him,” Baldelli said. “There are a lot of players that you have to plan things out for, and they think they need to know what’s coming their way, and they think it will help them to know that. Not him. He’s ready for anything you’re going to ask him to do.”