AL DIVISION SERIES: TWINS VS ASTROS

October 6, 2023

Royce Lewis

Minute Maid Park

Minnesota Twins

Workout Day Press Conference

Q. Royce, your first game here, first game this year was here. What do you remember about the game and that moment?

ROYCE LEWIS: I remember how electric this place was. It was fun to -- I like any environment that makes baseball better, and this is one of those stadiums that does that. This is a great team to do that for baseball as well.

I'm excited for the challenge tomorrow. It will be fun.

Q. Bailey was in here a little earlier, he's getting the Game 1 start. What has it been like seeing Bailey kind of develop this season and turn into a guy that you guys put out in Game 1?

ROYCE LEWIS: Thanks for telling me that. I didn't know that. That's really exciting. (Laughter).

We were all getting our work in separately, so for me to hear that makes me really excited. He's one of my best friends on this team. I'm really proud of what he's done this year. He's been a great workhorse for us. He's very deserving of this start and I think he's going to be up for the challenge.

Q. How much have you been able to ramp up the fielding and running? Are you expecting third base to be an option this series?

ROYCE LEWIS: My thing is we're working day to day. Like I said before, it's a muscle injury. So every day is a little bit different. Today so far, I haven't done much outside. A little bit more media today, which is nice. I enjoy it.

No, we're going to head outside pretty soon. I just put the pants on. We'll go test it out, see how it is. Ultimately, at the end of the day, it's up to Rocco. What he's done all year putting me in situations, whether I'm on the bench, starting, DH, wherever it may be, hitting second, hitting last, he always puts me in the best situation, and I trust him fully. Wherever he needs me tomorrow, I'll do it.

Q. Before that game, you made a prediction that something special was going to happen, and obviously the home run and the big hit in the ninth. Do you feel like making any other predictions now that you're back?

ROYCE LEWIS: I can't do that. I just get a feeling. It's not on me. It's a God thing. I just fully trust Him and have faith in what He's going to have for us.

I'll tell you this, we're all going to have fun, and we're all really excited for this challenge ahead of us. We're not done yet, man. We've got a long way to go.

Q. How valuable was it for you guys to get a playoff series under your belts at home and kind of get that experience before you came into an atmosphere like this?

ROYCE LEWIS: I love your shirt. It was awesome because our home fans, for them to stand up and go crazy like they did for us, I think it was huge, and it gave us a big momentum swing for not only that series but going forward. We're looking forward to getting back home and playing in front of them.

I think it's going to push us to get excited for this game knowing that they're probably going to be just as crazy for their Houston Astros.

Q. Royce, you're in a playoff series here with the Twins, but what do you remember about the day back in 2018 about the day this journey all began? When you get the call, hearing that you're going to be a Twin. That you're going to be 1-1, everything like that from that day?

ROYCE LEWIS: I knew it was going to be a long path, but I'll tell you this, it went by so fast, my whole life really. I look back, and I feel like I was in high school -- obviously it was seven, six years ago, but it feels like just yesterday that I was playing with all my high school buddies.

I just realized it's the same game, just done a lot more detailed and perfected. I still have a lot more fun, just like I would in high school, Little League, et cetera. I think that's what, for me, brings part of the joy to the game is that I'm having fun no matter what, taking it all in.

It just helps when you're winning and having success as well.

Q. What do you remember thinking when you heard it was the Twins?

ROYCE LEWIS: Yeah, for my pick, I didn't think Twins were going to be in the question. It wasn't about my ability. It was just about -- it seemed like they weren't in on me as much as the Padres and those other teams that were picking up there that year. It seemed like other teams were super enthused, but the Twins are super mellow. It's not that they didn't love me. I realize the best way to describe that is like Alex Kirilloff. Mellow guy, but he loves me deep down.

That's like the Twins personality. They were super mellow, hey, appreciate the talk. Then when they picked me, obviously they were going crazy. Behind the scenes it was awesome.

Q. I just wanted to ask you, with Carlos Correa, he made two big plays in the series in the Wild Card. Obviously the one at home and then the pickoff at second base. How big is having a veteran presence like this that's been to the postseason and his leadership bring to this young Minnesota Twins team?

ROYCE LEWIS: It's unbelievable. From the start of even last season when he came in for us, for me, this is someone that I've been looking up to since I was like 9 years old, whenever he first came into the league. I don't remember how old I was exactly, but I truly was -- I thought he was a special talent, and he still is, obviously. He's a superstar of this league.

But the behind the scenes stuff he does for our league team, for the young guys, he's like an older brother to all of us. Sometimes he could be your dad, too, because he's pretty firm. He really takes care of us, and he loves us. He does everything for this team. He gives his whole body, mind, effort to this team. It's like 120 percent of Carlos is in this team, and I think that's why we're here right now, as well as all the other guys in the locker room.

Q. Royce, you faced Justin Verlander once in your career, three at-bats. What do you remember about facing him? Does a pitcher's resume as big as his affect you in any way?

ROYCE LEWIS: I would say you shouldn't let it affect you if it does. But as a fan, I don't take it for granted how special he is to face. I think he's -- I know he's a Hall of Famer. I think he's most deserving of all the awards he's got. He's a great pitcher.

He's been doing it -- I think he's 40 years old. I was looking at my dad, you know, when you were 40, you couldn't throw. You couldn't play catch with me. We're still working on him playing catch with me.

But it's just special to take that in as a fan of the game, how special of a talent he is. So I don't take that for granted being able to face him because I know he's going to be a Hall of Famer.

Knowing that when you get in the game, you've just got to compete each and every pitch because those guys, they do that, and they do it very well, and they don't make very many mistakes. So you've got to keep competing and doing your best to put yourself in a good count, walk, whatever it may be for that at-bat. That's all I remember about him. Obviously he was a very electric pitcher.

Q. How has overcoming as much adversity as you've had to deal with, the two knee surgeries, to get to this place where you're in playoff games, how has that changed your perspective or shaped your perspective?

ROYCE LEWIS: It definitely made me not take anything for granted knowing how quickly this game could be taken away from you, whether it's an ACL, hamstring, oblique, whatever it may be, or just strictly performance. There's always someone ready to take your job or just ready to help the team out in any way possible.

I don't want to take any day for granted, playing in a Big League stadium. This is my dream, right? I think it's a lot of very young kids' dreams to play in the Big Leagues. I just want to be the person that shows like I don't take it for granted. I have fun doing it, even on a, quote, unquote, bad day at the plate or whatever it may be, your team loses, it's still so special to be part of this game.

This game has given me everything in my life. It's really taught me how to be a great human being, and I feel like I'm a much better person because of it.

Q. What have you guys learned about Duran and watching him slam the door in both of those 9th innings in that series?

ROYCE LEWIS: Same thing he's done all year, and even going back to Kane County, when he was on the Diamondbacks, he shoved against us too. I think our scouts were there at the game, and they said, we probably should get this guy. So it goes all the way back into the Minor Leagues.

I think that's the best part about this game is the history we have with all of our teammates, buddies, et cetera. You play against all these guys coming up, whether they're on opposing teams, on your own team. You make trades, and people are like how do you know him so well? I played with him in Low-A or I played with him in the Reds, like Farmer and Sonny. That's kind of one of the things I love about this game.

For Duran, I trust him fully in those situations. For me, I love seeing the 102's and the crowd going, oh. That's exactly what we do in the dugout too, so it's pretty special.

Q. Royce, you always talk about being a fan. Astros have been playing deep into the postseason a lot since you've been drafted. What do you think about the challenge of taking on this team here?

ROYCE LEWIS: Really excited for it. If you could take down the best, I feel like you could prove that you are one of the best teams in this league. I think that not only have we showed that already, but we're looking forward to keep doing that. I think this is one of the best teams going forward that we're going to have to be facing.

We're really excited for the challenge. Especially to start it on the road, I think it's going to be good for us. Try to just take two here and go back home and get it over with at home.

Q. Particularly after the two-homer game, how many messages did you get afterwards? Did anything stand out in terms of surprise in terms of someone reaching out?

ROYCE LEWIS: Honestly, I think I was just blessed to have the opportunity to have all my friends and family who care about me send messages. It was awesome. I really appreciate all of them.

I think before the game was the messages I loved the most, Torii, Justin Morneau, Joe Mauer, Cuddyer, LaTroy Hawkins. A lot of these Twins legends. And then seeing Tony Oliva before the game. They're really embracing this challenge and appreciate what we've done and what we've accomplished. They gave me some advice. The majority of the advice was take it all in because you never know when you're going to be guaranteed a spot back in the playoffs in general, let alone a home game in front of these amazing fans.

That's what I did my first at-bat. I took it all in and looked up and, wow, that was crazy. I probably won't do it again as much because my heart was racing after looking up. I got so excited. These fans are truly special. So that was really cool.

Q. Carlos was here earlier. I asked him this in Spanish. He answered in Spanish. I asked him directly, by being as a former member of the Astros, talk to you guys about the, like, you could throw him this way or this guy bats this way, what say you. Has he done that with you, like give you insights about his former ball club in order to make you into a better player against this ball club?

ROYCE LEWIS: Yeah, absolutely. I think not only him, but we have Dallas Keuchel, Christian Vasquez, who caught a lot of these pitchers, and they know how they work and how they tick.

I think the majority of the conversation is just understanding that, yes, they're very good, but they're human just like we are. You can't put other players or other people on a pedestal in this game because this game is very hard. You've just got to play the game to the best of your abilities and let the game do what it does. At the end of the day, hope that you get a win and you're on the winning side of this thing.

So that's kind of what we just focused on. Yeah, it's Justin Verlander, but at the same time, guess what, guys, he's got a four-seam fastball. Didn't we just face that with Gossman? He's got a curveball. We just faced that two weeks ago with Giolito. They're all the same. They all have to come over the plate, they've got to throw strikes, they've got to execute. So we've got to force them to execute, and that's our game plan each and every outing no matter who we face.

Although we do know they're a very challenging opponent, and we respect the heck out of them. We've just got to keep playing hard, like I said.