Royce Lewis, Carlos Correa among Twins stars to watch in ALDS
HOUSTON, Tex. — They say offense sells tickets, but defense wins championships.
When it comes to Saturday's Game 1 ALDS matchup, Twins vs. Astros, which bats will be most effective? Many experts will be looking at the former first-overall draft pick Royce Lewis.
With only mere hours passing since the Twins' magical wild-card round victory versus the Toronto Blue Jays, it's not surprising that Lewis is going into Houston on a hot streak. Only three players in MLB postseason history have hit home runs in their first two postseason at-bats. Former Twins player Gary Gaetti did it during the 1987 Twins World Series run, as did a young Evan Longoria in 2008 for Tampa Bay. In only 70 regular-season games of experience, Lewis concluded with a sizzling 15 homers and 52 RBIs in essentially one-third of a season in 2023.
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You'd be lying if you're an Astros fanatic who says they're not anxious over Carlos Correa's clutch potential in his first postseason return to Minute Maid Park. Most baseball fans are hip to Correa's successes but hard-pressed to forget his history with the big "H" on his helmet. To say the Astros and Correa have a rich history would be an understatement. The Astros drafted Correa right out of high school first overall in 2012, and he took Rookie of the Year honors in 2015. Correa and the Astros even won the 2017 World Series Championship.
The fact the Twins resigned Correa going into the 2023 regular season turned out to be a smart decision for Twins President of Operations Derek Falvey. He started off the 2023 campaign very unpredictable but finished the season with authority.
All we need to do now is hope for the health of the pitching rotation. Expectations are high but we are in a good position to make a championship run.