Do something for me before we get into the Pohlads, the Minnesota Twins’ aborted contention window, and Royce Lewis’ injury history. Watch this home run from spring training this year:

Royce Lewis with a no-doubter home run in his first spring training at-bat. pic.twitter.com/kpHJkqh0XX

— Aaron Gleeman (@AaronGleeman) February 21, 2026

Look at the ease with which he holds the bat. How smooth his swing is as he throws his weight behind the ball, sending it soaring into left field. Lewis makes it look like anyone could do it.

That was his first spring training at-bat this year. It was a glimmer of the magic Lewis had early in his career – a microcosm of his promise.

On Thursday, the Twins scratched Lewis from their spring training game against the Pittsburgh Pirates with tightness on his right side “out of an abundance of caution.”

“An abundance of caution” can mean anything. The Twins used the same phrasing when they removed Pablo López from a live batting practice session, and he will miss the season with Tommy John surgery. However, they removed Joe Ryan from his start against the Boston Red Sox on Saturday due to tightness in his back, but he appears to be fine.

Lewis’s injury is concerning because he has a history of playing like a franchise player, only to get hurt before he can build momentum. He hit .300/.317/.550 when he broke into the majors in 2022. However, he only played in 12 games because he tore his ACL for the second time when he crashed into the center field wall.

Royce Lewis’ center field debut for the #MNTwins lasts just three innings.

Lewis got shaken up crashing into the wall on this catch and is now out of the game. Replaced by Nick Gordon.pic.twitter.com/cRL8jlRUeE

— Aaron Gleeman (@AaronGleeman) May 29, 2022

The Twins shouldn’t have had Lewis in center field, and they’ve kept his feet in the dirt since the injury. However, he’s continued to suffer injuries that have kept him from having a sustained run of success.

Royce Lewis hit four grand slams in 2023. He also pumped up an anxious crowd before Minnesota’s playoff series against the Toronto Blue Jays, then hit four bombs in six games against Toronto and the Houston Astros in the ALDS.

Lewis put that “it factor” Derek Falvey said he had on draft day on full display. He delivered on his promise.

However, a year after winning a playoff series for the first time since 2002, ownership slashed payroll. In 2022, the Twins collapsed due to a lack of depth. Unsurprisingly, they did it again when ownership cut their budget in 2024.

Lewis hit a home run in his first at-bat of the 2024 season.

Royce Lewis with the first Twins HR this year… because of course 😂 pic.twitter.com/QH5ihNkPNk

— Minnesota Twins (@Twins) March 28, 2024

However, he injured his quad two innings later.

Injuries are a part of baseball, and one player can only have so much influence. It’s why the 2024 payroll cuts hurt the team so much. Teams need stars and depth.

The Twins won a playoff series in 2023 because they had a strong core, which they supplemented with young players. They had Byron Buxton, Carlos Correa, and Ryan Jeffers up the middle. Pablo López and Joe Ryan were the 1-2 punch at the top of the rotation, with Bailey Ober and other prospects filling in behind them. Griffin Jax and Jhoan Duran locked down the bullpen.

Royce Lewis provided star power at the hot corner, while Matt Wallner showed early promise. Louis Varland became a bulldog in the bullpen. The Twins had drafted Brooks Lee as a polished hitting prospect, and they had established a pitching pipeline. They could have built off this core had ownership invested in this team.

Instead, they offloaded Correa, Duran, Jax, and Varland when they unloaded 40% of their roster in a salary dump at last year’s deadline. After the season, the Twins fired Rocco Baldelli, then “mutually parted ways” with Derek Falvey before spring training.

In an alternate universe, ownership would have invested in the team after the playoff win, capitalizing on the momentum while opening a championship window. They’d only move on from the GM and manager while blowing up the roster if they felt the team couldn’t advance. By slashing payroll, they short-circuited that process.

After taking control of the team in the offseason, Tom Pohlad has admitted that slashing payroll was a mistake. However, that will only do so much to assuage the fanbase. There are legitimate prospects like Walker Jenkins, Kaelen Culpepper, and Emmanuel Rodriguez in camp with the Twins this year. Still, fans can only buy into a team’s future so much when they feel ownership won’t fully support the team.

In three years, the Twins have gone from having a playoff core and a strong farm system to hoping that starting pitching and young hitting will carry them. Those hopes took a hit when they lost López for the season. They need Lewis, Buxton, Lee, Luke Keaschall, and eventually Jenkins to hit, the starters to go deep, and the bullpen to preserve leads.

That’s a lot that must go right, which is why Vegas projects them to win 73.5 games. It’s easy to blame players and management when things go wrong. However, Minnesota’s issues go beyond that. Falvey drafted Lewis as a player with an “it” factor who could put a good roster over the top.

Royce Lewis has delivered on that promise. The Twins haven’t followed up on theirs.