2017 First Overall Pick Royce Lewis Joins Pensacola
July 28, 2019 - Southern League (SL1)
Pensacola Blue Wahoos News Release
Shortstop Royce Lewis
(Pensacola Blue Wahoos, Credit: Daniel Venn)
Pensacola, FL- The Minnesota Twins announced Saturday night that 2017 #1 overall draft pick and Twins #1 prospect Royce Lewis has been promoted to Pensacola from High-A Fort Myers.
The Twins made Lewis, now 20-years-old, the first overall pick in the 2017 draft out of JSerra High School in San Juan Capistrana, CA. The shortstop split his debut season between the R-Gulf Coast League and A-Cedar Rapids, hitting .279 with four home runs and 18 stolen bases. In 2018, he showed off his five-tool potential at Cedar Rapids and A+ Fort Myers, slashing a combined .292/.352/.451 with 14 home runs, 29 doubles, and 28 stolen bases despite being the youngest player in the Florida State League when he arrived. In 2019, he's hit .238 with 10 home runs and 16 steals at Fort Myers, erasing a slow start to the season by hitting eight home runs in the second half.
Lewis is currently ranked as the seventh-best prospect in all of baseball by MLB Pipeline. With his addition, the Blue Wahoos now have 10 of the Twins top 30 prospects on their active or injured roster, including four of the Twins top five. The top prospects on the Blue Wahoos roster are as follows: SS Lewis (#1), OF Alex Kirilloff (#2), RHP Brusdar Graterol (#3), OF Trevor Larnach (#4), RHP Jhoan Duran (#9), C Ryan Jeffers (#10), RHP Griffin Jax (#22), RHP Jorge Alcala (#23), IF Travis Blankenhorn (#24), and C Ben Rortvedt (#30).
In an additional move, the Twins announced yesterday that 1B Lewin Diaz was traded to the Miami Marlins. Diaz hit .302/.341/.587 with six home runs and 16 doubles in 33 games for the Blue Wahoos. In return, the Twins received veteran reliever Sergio Romo (17 saves, 3.58 ERA), 2018 fifth round draft pick RHP Chris Vallimont, and a player to be named later. Vallimont, 22, was a combined 6-7 with a 3.16 ERA between A-Clinton and A+ Jupiter in 2019 and slides in as the Twins #29 prospect. Diaz is likely to be assigned to AA-Jacksonville, the Blue Wahoos current opponent.
Images from this story
 Shortstop Royce Lewis (Daniel Venn) |
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