Royce Lewis last season rallied from a second reconstructive surgery on his right knee to help carry the Twins’ offense as they nailed down an American League Central Division title.

After returning in late May, he drove in 37 runs in 32 games in August and September. Then, after recovering from a hamstring injury, he hit four homers in six playoff games as the Twins snapped an 18-game postseason losing skid.

So he has overcome bigger challenges than a hitting slump.

The young infielder taken first overall in the 2017 amateur draft is fighting it at the plate right now, and has been for some time. It’s bad timing for the Twins, who have played large swaths of the season’s second half without injured sluggers Carlos Correa, Byron Buxton and Max Kepler.

Over his past 25 games, Lewis is hitting .189 with one home run, 10 runs batted in and a .483 OPS while the Twins have gone 9-16 and become ensconced at third place in the Central, six games behind first-place Cleveland.

“The things he’s dealing with right now might not be what some people expected to see, or what he expected to experience. But working through these periods of time make you stronger, and they make you a better player,” manager Rocco Baldelli said.

Lewis, 25, played his 65th game this season on Monday, going 0 for 4 with three strikeouts in a 6-2 loss to the Los Angeles Angels. Because of a series of injuries that included a 58-game trip to the injured list with an oblique injury this spring, that’s the longest Lewis has ever played at the major league level.

He was available but given the night off for the second game of the series on Tuesday at Target Field.

Asked after Monday’s game if the length of his season is starting to get to him or whether he’s just struggling with his swing, Lewis said, “Mixture of everything.”

“Also,” he added, “pitchers are really good here, so it’s not like it’s pee-wee baseball or anything like that. Sometimes I wish it was; it would be great for me. But, no, these guys throw pretty good stuff.”

It would be easier for Lewis to deal with a slump if the Twins’ lineup weren’t so depleted. Correa hasn’t played since July 12 because of plantar fasciitis in his right foot, and Buxton has been out since Aug. 12 because of a hip strain. Kepler missed his ninth straight game because of knee soreness on Tuesday, and Manny Margot (groin) missed his 10th.

Baldelli had a chat with his young third baseman on Monday.

“He’s a great communicator, and we just talked some things out about how to go forward,” Lewis said. “It’s kind of like the first time, per se, I’m going through a struggle at the plate in the big leagues. I’ve been through this before in the minors; sometimes they take a while.

“That’s part of it. That’s part of the ups and downs of the game. You’ve just got to really enjoy the ups when they come.”

BP buddies

The Twins brought four Class A pitchers to Minneapolis to throw living batting practice to their injured position players, and it started on Tuesday when left-handers Cleiber Maldonado and Jordan Carr pitched to Correa, Buxton, Margot and Kepler.

Also here are right-handers Spencer Bengard and Jack Noble. Asked if the young pitchers had any marching orders, Baldelli said, “Not from me.”

“I’m sure early on the goal is strike throwing, with probably all of their pitches, as we get going into this thing,” the manager added. “But we’ll see how this is organized by the players, because I’m sure that some of them, as time goes on this week, might be looking for some different things, and I’m sure they’ll ask for different things if they want them.”

The idea behind the exercise is to kick-start the players from rehab to playing, whether that resumes with a rehab appearance — the St. Paul Saints play through Sept. 22 — or in the majors.

After Tuesday night, the Twins will have 17 regular-season games remaining.

Briefly

Catcher Christian Vazquez returned from a short paternity leave on Tuesday but was not available to play, so Ryan Jeffers started behind the plate for a second straight game, the first time he has done that since April. “Things can change, but I believe Vasquez is going to be back tomorrow,” Baldelli said. … Right-hander Justin Topa, out since spring training with knee tendinitis and arm weakness, threw a bullpen session on Monday and said he hopes to pitch before the regular-season ends on Sept. 30.

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