Royce Lewis Homers on Rehab Assignment, E-Rod Sends a Ball Into Orbit

Royce Lewis looks pretty healthy.

Beginning a rehab assignment with Triple-A St. Paul on Saturday afternoon, Lewis blasted a home run into the bullpen in left-center field in his first plate appearance. It was a 381-foot shot on a 2-2 slider well below the strike zone from Lehigh Valley (Phillies) starter Ryan Cusick.

Slider down out of the zone is no problem for the Major League rehabber. Royce Lewis with a blast to left, his first homer in his first at bat. It's his 12th homer in a Saints uniform. 381 feet to left field ties it up at two pic.twitter.com/bslX9ldjfC
— St. Paul Saints (@StPaulSaints) April 18, 2026

Hitting second and serving as the designated hitter, Lewis drove in Walker Jenkins after the Twins' top prospect drew a leadoff walk.

Lewis, who was placed on the IL a week ago with a left knee sprain, finished 1 for 4 on the day with a flyout, a strikeout, and a groundout. Results aren't particularly important in rehab assignments, which are mostly about a player shaking off some rust and getting their timing down against live pitching before returning to the big leagues. Still, it has to be encouraging for the Twins to see Lewis blast off in his first plate appearance in nine days.

On April 9, in the final game of the Twins' four-game series against the Tigers, Lewis suffered the knee sprain during a swing in the eighth inning. He stayed in the game and was able to leg out an infield hit on the next pitch, but he wound up heading to the IL the next day anyways.

Lewis beginning a rehab assignment after just over a week indicates that his injury wasn't particularly significant. He's expected to play for the Saints again on Sunday, and barring any sort of setback in that game, he should return to the Twins when first eligible on Tuesday at Citi Field against the Mets.

Before landing on the IL, Lewis had gone 8 for 36 with two home runs, two doubles, and two stolen bases. He has an .822 OPS in 45 plate appearances this season.

Rodriguez obliterates a baseball

We published a story on Friday titled "Twins Prospect Emmanuel Rodriguez Has Nothing Left to Prove at Triple-A," highlighting Rodriguez's recent production at the plate for the Saints. A day later, that headline looks even better.

On Saturday, Rodriguez absolutely destroyed a baseball in the fifth inning. He got a hanging breaking ball and hit it 117.1 miles per hour for an absolute no-doubter to right field. It was estimated to travel 426 feet, which seems short when you watch the ball fly.

If it were hit in MLB, that exit velocity would be tied for the second-fastest in the league so far this season. It's the fourth homer of the season for Rodriguez, whose OPS is up to .924 through 15 games with St. Paul in 2026.

Admire the hardest hit ball in franchise history, by a full 1.5 mph. Emmanuel Rodriguez hits one 117.1 mph, 426 feet out to right. His fourth of the season. The 117.1 mph is tied for the second hardest hit ball in ALL of baseball this year (Oneil Cruz, 119.0 mph) pic.twitter.com/EA3Va6AbZM
— St. Paul Saints (@StPaulSaints) April 18, 2026

As we wrote about on Friday, the Twins' roster composition means there isn't an obvious everyday role for Rodriguez in the big leagues right now. But he's continuing to give them a lot to think about, especially with Matt Wallner struggling mightily at the plate for Minnesota. It feels like only a matter of time until we see Rodriguez get the call and make his MLB debut.

Tanner Schobel, Orlando Arcia, and Aaron Sabato also homered for the Saints on Saturday in a 10-6 loss.

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