FORT MYERS, Fla. — One of the first things that struck new manager Derek Shelton when he went to visit Royce Lewis in Texas just days after his hiring was the third baseman’s ability to order barbecue well. The second was his maturity. Shelton was familiar with Lewis from his first stint in the organization. He was the team’s bench coach in 2018-19 when Lewis was a highly-touted prospect in the organization. But Lewis has grown into a much different player and person in the intervening years. It’s very likely that the 26-year-old’s upcoming season will determine a lot about how the team’s season plays out. That’s part of the reason why Shelton made it a point to visit Lewis in person during his first couple weeks on the job. “For us to be the team we want to be, Royce Lewis has to be on the field,” Shelton said. And much of his offseason was geared towards just that. Lewis made seismic changes this offseason, hiring a private hitting coach and changing up his training routine in response to a difficult 2025 season. Fully healthy this winter — Lewis dealt with two hamstring strains but played in a career-high 106 games last season — he finally decided to switch over to the workout plan suggested by his agent, Scott Boras. “Boras, every time any injury or anything would come up, he’s like ‘I’m trying to tell you, you weren’t hurt when we were working with you,’ ” Lewis said. “He’s always been reeling me back. I made that transition, and it’s just more powerful, more explosive, more volume.” Lewis hadn’t back squatted in years — since maybe 2018 or 2019, he estimated — but he incorporated that back into the routine. At first, his body was sore, and he said he was “hating” it. But then he realized the benefits of adding volume and stress to the body this winter in an attempt to avoid the muscle strains that have plagued him in recent seasons. Another big change Lewis made was hiring a private hitting coach — aside from Twins hitting coaches, he had primarily been working with his father, William — to work with for the first time in his career. Lewis linked up with Jeremy Isenhower, who also works with Kansas City star Bobby Witt Jr. and former Twin Jorge Polanco, this winter. “(Polanco) said, ‘Papi, this is the guy. I promise,’” Lewis said. “He worked with this guy, and he almost was like the last year of his career … and then he had a career year last year.” Lewis traveled from his home in the Dallas area to Houston to meet with Isenhower and estimated he saw him around eight times. The changes weren’t geared towards altering his swing, Lewis said, noting the work was focused more on the preset and his loading mechanism. One thing Isenhower mentioned after watching film of Lewis is that it seemed like he was using five different batting stances in one game, which was a surprising observation to the third baseman. “I didn’t think so. It doesn’t feel like that, but I was just going up there as an athlete,” Lewis said. “He told me he thinks the best (hitters) are preset. He gave me 12 examples of the best hitters in the league. I said “OK. What do I need to do?’ It felt weird for a month and a half.” The trips to Houston came with another benefit, too: a reunion with former teammate Carlos Correa. In between wrestling and Mario Kart with Correa and his two young sons, Correa kept him well fed, serving him pancakes, oatmeal, scrambled eggs and burgers, all of which drew rave reviews. “He makes the best food of all time,” Lewis said. “I’ve got to put that on the record.” Now, after an offseason that he described as his “favorite,” he hopes he can channel his work into results. The third baseman is coming off a season in which he hit .237 with 13 home runs and 52 runs batted in. His .671 OPS was the lowest of his career, and his 83 OPS+ is a number that is 17 percent below the league-average hitter. Near the beginning of the offseason when Shelton sat down with Lewis, he wanted to see where Lewis was at. He liked what he heard and has seen since. “This kid wants to be a star. And to be a star, you have to take care of your body. You have to put yourself in a situation where you’re seeking external advice,” Shelton said. “And then, No. 3, you have to have the maturity to realize that you’ve made some mistakes. And he was very clear in all those things with me. … The thing that stands out, is when you’re willing to say, ‘I need to do some things differently.’ That’s the sign of maturity in my mind.” Related Articles All-star reliever Liam Hendriks looks to revive career with Twins Newborn, WBC prep helped Twins starter Joe Ryan tune out the ‘unknown’ in offseason Twins add more bullpen depth, acquire Anthony Banda, Liam Hendriks Five Twins questions as spring training gets underway Top prospects, familiar veteran among Twins’ non-roster invites ...read more read less