Rocco Baldelli is Tired of Royce Lewis Yapping to Media

Remember the days when we thought Minnesota Twins 2017 1st round pick , Royce Lewis, had a very ‘ho-hum’ personality, and little to no ‘diva’ in his bravado? Of course, one week does not completely repaint that picture, but it does call into question a lot of our assumptions about the Twins up-and-coming star.

In case you missed it, Royce has been talking with media a lot , lately. In the past, that hasn’t really been an issue. Lewis is a confident young kid, who has always done well with microphones in front of his face. He’s always been a good quote, but recently, we’ve seen less of that happy-go-lucky kid.

Instead, Lewis has displayed a much different tone with reporters. One that sounds much closer to an entitled brat, than it does a professional teammate. The buzzword used in professional sports is ‘diva’. And if you aren’t an NFL wide receiver, it’s a label no pro athlete wants associated with them.

Royce Lewis shows his diva side

Maybe it’s his increasing comfortability with media, or his coming down to earth on the diamond. Either way, Royce Lewis’ diva attitude hit a new level earlier this week, when asked about a possible move to 2nd base.

The 25-year-old Lewis has never really played 2nd base, and is not comfortable playing there. But a look at the current allotment of players Rocco Baldelli has at his disposal makes it pretty obvious that moving Royce across the diamond gives the Twins a much better team, offensively.

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Lewis, however, didn’t see things the same way. After playing a few innings at 2B in emergency fashion on Wednesday, he wasn’t afraid to voice his displeasure with the experience.

Royce told reporters gathered around his locker after the game, very pointedly, that he didn’t want to play 2nd base anymore, and that he didn’t see a good reason to return there the rest of the season.

“We have plenty of really good second basemen, and I don’t want to mess up our defense just because we’re going to try something new. It’s not spring training or Triple-A for that.”

“I think we proved I’m an athlete. Now, let’s just keep playing normal baseball, play third and win baseball games.”

Royce Lewis earlier this week on playing 2nd base

Minnesota Twins manager Rocco Baldelli tired of Lewis yapping

His manager disagreed, and wrote Lewis in as the Minnesota Twins’ starting 2nd baseman the next day. Not only that, but Rocco is reportedly growing tired of the comments his young star has been making to reporters.

According to Dan Hayes (The Athletic) , Baldelli has been nothing but diplomatic, with media. But sources inside the organization say Lewis’ recent comments put Rocco over the edge and forced a conversation between manager and player.

It was the recent comments made by Lewis about being tired and not wanting to switch to second base — a move the Twins want to make because they believe it makes them a more dangerous club with Jose Miranda starting at third — that caught the attention of his manager, Rocco Baldelli. Though Baldelli didn’t make comments to indicate it, privately he was frustrated with Lewis.

“It’s probably a little more challenging for Royce because he has less experience in late-season baseball than probably anybody else here due to him missing some time.” Baldelli continued, “That adjustment might be something that takes a little longer for him. I hope he figures it out quickly. But it’ll be a good test for him and I think he’s going to pass the test.”

The Athletic

If Rocco Baldelli was Bobby Knight, the above report probably wouldn’t his ‘throw a chair onto the court’ moment. But not once, in the Rocco era, have we ever had a report like this one. The only time we have ever seen the Minnesota manager mad is the few times he’s been tossed by umpires, which is very rare.

When Sonny Gray voiced his frustrations over being yanked from the mound too early… crickets. Back when Josh Donaldson was pissing everyone off, nothing. Nelson Cruz takes too many naps? Great. No matter what, Rocco goes to bat for his guys.

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If we are hearing about the manager’s frustrations, it’s for a reason. And that means Royce Lewis was the first player to pull that sort of publicly known reaction out of Rocco Baldelli. Going forward, it would probably behoove the young slugger to keep his time with reporters a bit more generic.

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• Twins Transitioning Louie Varland Back to His Postseason Duties