Royce Lewis

Entering last season, there were some who doubted Lewis's abilities, in addition to the uncertainty surrounding his recovery from a torn right ACL. He did everything in his power at Triple-A (149 wRC+) and the majors (146 wRC+) to prove that his tools are every bit as impressive as those highest on him believed them to be. Unfortunately, he tore the same ACL right as he was settling in as an impactful fantasy and real-life player at the highest level in late May. Prior to his injury, Lewis was hitting the ball with authority (94th percentile max exit velocity) while striking out at a 19.1% clip across both stops. He also went 12-for-14 on stolen-base attempts through 46 games. His elite intangibles are part of what allowed him to come back so impressively from the first ACL tear, so there's no doubt he will do everything in his power to come back strong in the first half of 2023. The risk of Lewis re-injuring that same knee at some point is the biggest knock on him in redraft and dynasty leagues. The surprise return of Carlos Correa to the Twins changes Lewis' trajectory, and he'll now likely need to move off shortstop to have a path to clear playing time. If he can fully move past the right knee issues, he should be a five-category infielder (slight downgrade in OBP leagues), though it's unclear when exactly he'll be able to debut in 2023. Read Past Outlooks