MINNEAPOLIS — If the Twins are going to bounce back from a disappointing 2025 and return to contention, a few things will need to go right. But production from the infield may be at the very top of the list.
Royce Lewis and Brooks Lee both put up numbers that were not in line with what they would have hoped or expected. And while second baseman Luke Keaschall was a sparkplug in limited playing time, the Twins need him to stay healthy and continue to play the way he did as a rookie.
MLB.com is going around the Twins, unit by unit, assessing the roster as Spring Training approaches. We’ve already looked at the catching and first base/DH. Today it’s second base, third base and shortstop.
On the 40-man roster: Kody Clemens, Tristan Gray, Luke Keaschall, Ryan Kreidler, Brooks Lee, Royce Lewis
New arrivals: Kreidler (claimed off waivers from Pirates), Gray (trade with Red Sox), Orlando Arcia (non-roster invitee to Spring Training)
Departures: Ryan Fitzgerald (claimed off waivers by Dodgers)
Top 30 prospects: Kaelen Culpepper (No. 52 overall, Twins No. 2), Marek Houston (No. 6), Kyle DeBarge (No. 11), Quentin Young (No. 12), Brandon Winokur (No. 13), Billy Amick (No. 16), Danny De Andrade (No. 30)
The big question: How much will the left side of the infield hit?
If you know the answer to this, you probably know how the Twins are going to fare in 2026. Yes, there are questions in the bullpen. There’s uncertainty as to who will comprise the bullpen. There are a lot of pieces to fit into a limited number of corner outfield spots.
But if there’s one variable with the widest range, and the largest impact, it’s what Lewis and Lee do at the plate.
Both were top-10 overall Draft picks and top-50 prospects. Lewis hit for incredible power early in his career, while Lee showed polish at every level of the Minors. And both posted OPS+ of lower than 85 last year.
Lewis was up and down, and put up pretty good numbers over the final six weeks of the season. He also showed some encouraging signs in his batted-ball data. His overall average exit velocity and hard-hit rate in 2025 were much closer to his 2022-23 data, when he hit like a superstar, than his 2024 data.
Lee, meanwhile, showed surprising power with 16 home runs. But a player who had always been considered an advanced, refined hitter struggled to a .236 average and chased too many pitches out of his hitting zone.
They’re both capable of more than that, as their track records show. And with a new manager and a new hitting staff, it will be fascinating to see what they can do. New manager Derek Shelton has already visited Lewis at his Texas home, and new teammate Josh Bell has expressed a desire to work with Lewis in the offseason.
What else you need to know
While second base appears to be set, especially since there’s not really an obvious alternative at the moment, the Twins have considered moving Keaschall off the keystone. He was inconsistent defensively as a rookie, though some of that can likely be attributed to two major injuries — an elbow operation before the season started, then a broken arm in April.
Infield defense overall was an issue — the Twins were below average at all three positions last year. They ranked 29th, 20th and 21st in outs above average at second, third and short, respectively. Lewis in particular looked stronger in the field as the year went on and played some excellent third late in the year. The hope is that some offseason work will allow Lee to display more range, that Keaschall will be more consistent with a healthy offseason, and that one of Kreidler, Arcia or perhaps Gray will provide stability off the bench.
