Royce Lewis exits Twins spring training game because of leg injury

FORT MYERS, FLA. – Eleven days before the Twins begin the regular season, Royce Lewis exited Sunday’s spring training game because of a leg injury.

Lewis pulled up early after grounding out to third base in the second inning, hobbling to the first-base bag once he was about halfway up the first-base line and grabbing the back of his left leg. He walked off the field alongside head trainer Nick Paparesta and immediately went through the dugout tunnel toward the trainer’s room.

The Twins announced Lewis was diagnosed with a left hamstring strain, putting his availability for Opening Day into question.

It was the first notable injury to a position player projected to make the Twins’ Opening Day roster.

Lewis has played only 140 games over the past two seasons due to multiple injuries. He suffered a right quad strain on Opening Day at Kansas City last year, an injury that cost him the first two months of the season, and he had a stint on the injured list in July because of an adductor strain.

In 2023, Lewis missed time with a left oblique strain and a left hamstring strain after recovering from surgery to repair a ligament in his knee.

The Twins had Lewis, Carlos Correa and Byron Buxton in the same lineup only 26 times last year.

Brock Stewart was diagnosed with a left hamstring strain Sunday, one day after his spring training outing was cut short.

It’s viewed as a minor injury and the Twins didn’t feel a magnetic resonance imaging exam was necessary, but the timing of it could affect the hard-throwing reliever’s ability to avoid the 15-day injured list to start the season.

“We have to keep our eyes open to the end goal here, which isn’t just the start of the season. It’s the whole season,” Paparesta said. “We’ll just see how he responds over the next 48 hours.”

Stewart played catch Sunday, which at least gives him a chance to make his next scheduled outing.

Michael Tonkin, sidelined for the last two weeks with a right shoulder strain, hopes to resume throwing in the next few days, but he will begin the season on the Twins’ 15-day injured list.

Tonkin, owed $1 million this year, will remain at the Twins’ spring training facility when the team breaks camp, so he can continue to build up his workload through live batting practice sessions and rehab games.

“You’re going to have crazy schedules because we have all these day games and night games, lack of bullpen catchers and guys to hit off of him,” Paparesta said. “I think him staying here in Florida is probably the best thing for him in the long term.”

Matt Canterino, who hasn’t pitched in a minor league regular season game since July 30, 2022, was ruled out for the entire 2025 season after he underwent labral repair surgery in his right shoulder last week. The surgery, performed by Dr. Keith Meister in Texas, involves at least a 12-month recovery.

“Dr. Meister felt that due to the laxity he has in his shoulder, the best thing to help stop all these muscles from straining constantly over and over again in his rotator cuff was to have this shoulder tightened back up a little bit,” Paparesta said. “And by doing that, he repaired his labrum.”

Canterino, 27, has been on the Twins’ 40-man roster since Nov. 2022. He was sidelined in 2023 recovering from Tommy John surgery and he missed the 2024 season due to a lingering rotator cuff strain.

* The St. Louis Cardinals named Sonny Gray as their Opening Day starter on Sunday, so it will be López vs. Gray matchup when the Twins open their season on March 27 at Busch Stadium.

* Justin Topa is scheduled to pitch in Monday’s spring training game. He threw 22 pitches in a minor league game Friday, the first time he pitched after leaving a Grapefruit League game early with shoulder tightness. “The pitching coaches all felt like his stuff looked like it was supposed to, so he feels good,” Paparesta said. “He bounced back well.”

* Emmanuel Rodriguez was scheduled to play five innings in the outfield during a minor league spring training game Sunday. Paparesta said he’s “trending in the right direction” to avoid the IL when the Class AAA St. Paul Saints break camp.