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2021 – Twins president of baseball operations Derek Falvey announced today that top prospect Royce Lewis will undergo knee surgery on February 26 in the Twin Cities after tearing his right ACL. The rehab process is expected to take between nine months to a year, wiping out an entire season for the 21-year-old Lewis, who was the No. 1 overall pick in the 2017 draft and is expected to be the Twins’ shortstop of the future. The injury wasn’t a result of one specific event, Falvey said. Lewis first felt soreness in his knee while doing side-to-side running while he trained in Texas, preparing to come to spring training. Shortly after, he slipped on some ice, which could have contributed to the issue. Lewis initially thought it was a strain or a bruise, and he reported the pain to Twins doctors when they were evaluating him on Monday. A subsequent MRI revealed the bad news. Falvey said Lewis, the No. 17 prospect overall per MLB Pipeline, likely would have been at Double-A Wichita to begin this season.
The Minnesota Twins also announced that tickets for their 14 scheduled 2021 Spring Training home games at Hammond Stadium at CenturyLink Sports Complex are sold out, with the remaining inventory following Season Ticket Holder pre-sales being purchased within 30 minutes of today’s public on-sale. The Twins will welcome slightly more than 2,400 fans per game to Hammond Stadium in 2021, beginning with the Grapefruit League opener this Sunday, February 28 against the Boston Red Sox. Tickets for all Twins 2021 Spring Training home games were sold in physically-distanced seating “pods” of exactly two (2) or four (4) contiguous seats.
1988 – The Twins swap shortstops when they acquire Doug Baker from the Detroit Tigers and give up Julius McDougal.
1940 – Minnesota Twins legend and baseball lifer Wayne Hattaway who was known by one and all as the “Big Fella” was born on this day. Wayne passed away on April 30, 2020.
