MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The Minnesota Twins made multiple significant roster moves on Tuesday, sending struggling third baseman Royce Lewis to Triple-A to take some pressure off the 2017 No. 1 draft pick after learning catcher Ryan Jeffers will miss six to eight weeks with a broken wrist.
Jeffers was placed on the injured list, after he was hurt during a swing late in the game on Monday and tests revealed a fracture in the hamate bone in his left hand. The 28-year-old is batting .295 with a .949 OPS, seven home runs and 26 RBIs in 37 games this season, leaving a gaping hole in the middle of the order while he's out.
“Ryan's having an awesome year, an All-Star-caliber first six weeks,” general manager Jeremy Zoll said. “Other guys are going to need to step up. We have plenty of guys who are exceeding expectations right now and some guys that we’re confident are going to get it going again more.”
The Twins also designated reliever Justin Topa for assignment and summoned three players from their Triple-A affiliate the St. Paul Saints: reliever Travis Adams, infielder Orlando Arcia and catcher Alex Jackson. Arcia and Jackson had to be added to the 40-man roster.
In a bit of brighter news, the Twins had Byron Buxton back in the lineup for their game against Houston on Tuesday — as the designated hitter, not in center field yet — after he missed the last five games because of a sore right hip flexor.
When Lewis will return to the major leagues is unknown, but his performance at the plate since returning from a sprained left knee essentially forced the club's hand. He has struck out 25 times in 74 plate appearances since his reinstatement from the injury list, batting just .132 with one home run and five RBIs in an extension of the struggles he had during much of the 2025 season.
“Obviously not something that we were hoping to have to do,” Zoll said. "Those are always really tough decisions. A lot of conversations and a lot of viewpoints went into that, but I think the reality is as we work through it and try to think through what’s best for Royce and for the organization, giving him that reset in Triple-A to hopefully get him going and get that confidence back is what’s best. A lot of season left, so hopeful that we can accomplish that in short order here down in St. Paul.”
The Twins made a similar move with a member of their opening day lineup last week, demoting right fielder Matt Wallner to Triple-A.
“If we don’t feel that we’re up to the standard of performance, then we have to make sure that we make an adjustment,” manager Derek Shelton said. “In both Wally and Royce’s case, they’re a big part of our organization. We need to get them right and get them back here to help us win games.”
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Minnesota Twins' Royce Lewis hits an RBI single against the Milwaukee Brewers during the seventh inning of a baseball game, Friday, May 15, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Matt Krohn)
ALLEN, Texas (AP) — President Donald Trump on Tuesday endorsed Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton in the GOP primary for the U.S. Senate, supercharging his effort to oust incumbent Sen. John Cornyn in next week's runoff.
“Ken is a true MAGA Warrior who has ALWAYS delivered for Texas, and will continue to do so in the United States Senate,” Trump wrote on social media.
News of the endorsement broke during a Paxton campaign event, drawing cheers from supporters who began dancing to “YMCA,” a Trump campaign anthem.
“I have so much respect for the president and appreciate so much his endorsement,” Paxton said at the event in Allen, Texas.
Paxton and Cornyn advanced to a May 26 runoff after finishing as the top vote-getters in a March 3 primary in which no candidate won a majority. Early voting started Monday and continues through Friday.
Trump’s endorsement is the latest of several he has handed out in Republican primaries in an attempt to cull the GOP of those who’ve opposed him. Recent successes have emboldened Trump, including the defeats of Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy in Louisiana and Indiana state senators who opposed him on redistricting.
He also picked and endorsed a challenger to Kentucky U.S. Rep. Thomas Massie in Tuesday's primary. Massie’s push to release the Jeffrey Epstein files and his vocal opposition to the Iran war have grated on Trump, whose support for Ed Gallrein is making this reelection campaign Massie’s most challenging yet.
Although the four-term Cornyn has backed Trump’s agenda in Washington, Paxton pitched himself as a political warrior for the Make America Great Again movement. Trump’s endorsement puts him at odds with his party’s establishment, which is convinced that Cornyn is the better candidate for November’s general election. The Republican nominee will face Democratic state Rep. James Talarico.
Speaking at a campaign event in Lubbock later Tuesday, Cornyn said Trump's endorsement “will certainly have an impact on the race” but added “we're not giving up the fight.”
“I know who gets to choose our senators and it’s the people of Texas,” Cornyn said. "And there’s no substitute for that.”
Cornyn, who said he had not spoken with Trump about the endorsement, also leaned into an argument he’s repeated on the campaign trail: that in November’s general election against Talarico, Paxton will be “a weak nominee who jeopardizes everything we care about.”
Talarico said in a statement that “it doesn’t matter who wins this runoff. We already know who we’re running against: the billionaire megadonors and their corrupt political system.”
Trump, in his social media post, said Cornyn was “a good man,” but “he was not supportive of me when times were tough.” He complained, “John was very late in backing me in what turned out to be a Historic Run for the Republican Nomination.”
The runoff between Cornyn and Paxton has been a bitter and expensive battle for the future of the Republican Party, and one that was diverting resources from other competitive races elsewhere in the country.
Cornyn’s campaign organizations and allied super PACs have been vastly outspending Paxton on advertising since last year, the overwhelming majority of which has been dedicated to attacking Paxton. This week, Cornyn’s campaign and groups supporting it will have spent more than $87 million on advertising, according to the ad-tracking firm AdImpact, including more than $18.5 million since the March 3 primary.
Paxton’s campaign groups and a single super PAC have spent a fraction of what pro-Cornyn groups have, combining to spend a total of $9.2 million on advertising, about $4.9 million since the primary election on March 3.
Senate Republicans left a luncheon lamenting Trump’s decision and its implications for Cornyn. GOP leaders have worried publicly that Republicans will have to spend millions more in a general election if Paxton is the nominee.
“I’m sad, I’m actually sad,” said Republican Sen. Cynthia Lummis, adding that she believed Cornyn had a better chance of winning the general election.
“Now it’ll just cost us a fortune,” she said.
The endorsement excited supporters at Paxton's event on Tuesday. Caroline Zadeh said it was an “awesome thing” and that she trusts “Trump to do the right thing.”
“We’ve had Cornyn in the office for quite a while,” she said of her frustrations with the senator, and “a lot of controversy between him and Trump’s administration.”
In the other camp, Bennie Newman, 84, said he voted for Cornyn on Tuesday before hearing of the endorsement, which came as “a surprise” and “a disappointment.”
Newman supports Trump, but he still would've voted for Cornyn because he “has almost been impeccable in terms of his reputation,” he said. Referencing some of Paxton’s scandals, he said that the attorney general would be a weaker candidate against Talarico in November’s general election.
Trump has had an at-times cool relationship with Cornyn, notably after the senator suggested in 2023 that Trump could not win the presidency again in 2024 and that his “time has passed him by.”
Cornyn also was an early critic of Trump’s plan for a border wall between the U.S. and Mexico — a project he now supports.
A former state attorney general and state Supreme Court judge, Cornyn was first elected to statewide office 36 years ago. His understated style and judge’s temperament contrast with the fiery rhetoric of Trump and his Make America Great Again movement.
Cornyn has had support from Senate Republican leadership, including South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, who warned that “it is a strong possibility we cannot hold Texas if John Cornyn is not our nominee.”
Some Republican leaders have worried the party will need to spend much more money to defend the seat if Paxton is the nominee — money they could be spending on Senate races in more competitive states. Paxton was acquitted in a 2023 impeachment trial on corruption charges. He also reached a deal in 2024 to end a long-running securities fraud case.
While Trump's approval ratings have slumped among Americans overall, he has shown the ability to sway GOP primary voters.
In Indiana, Trump’s endorsement helped dislodge five of the seven Republican state senators who were seeking reelection in the May 5 primary after they voted in December against the White House-backed redistricting plan to give Republicans an advantage in U.S. House races.
On Saturday, Cassidy finished third in Louisiana, therefore out of the running in the June 27 runoff for the Republican nomination to the seat he has held for two terms. The Trump-endorsed candidate, U.S. Rep. Julia Letlow, finished first ahead of state Treasurer John Fleming and both will compete in the runoff.
Beaumont reported from Des Moines, Iowa, and Bedayn reported from Austin, Texas. Associated Press journalists Stephen Groves in Washington and Kendria LaFleur in Allen, Texas, contributed.
Follow the AP’s coverage of the 2026 elections at https://apnews.com/hub/elections.
Texas Democratic gubernatorial candidate Gina Hinojosa, Texas Democratic Senate candidate and Texas state Rep. James Talarico, and former President Barack Obama visit the Taco Joint on Tuesday, May 12, 2026, in Austin, Texas. (AP Photo/Joel Angel Juarez, Pool)
FILE - Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, speaks to the media, March 3, 2026, in Austin, Texas. (AP Photo/Jack Myer, File)
Melinda Tran, right, and Mimi Liter cheer after an endorsement announcement for Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, a Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate, at a campaign event in McKinney, Texas, Tuesday, May 19, 2026. (AP Photo/LM Otero)
FILE - Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, speaks to the media, March 3, 2026, in Austin, Texas. (AP Photo/Jack Myer, File)
Vickie Palmer, right, hugs Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, a Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate, at a campaign event in McKinney, Texas, Tuesday, May 19, 2026. (AP Photo/LM Otero)
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, a Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate, speaks to supporters while campaigning for his primary runoff race Monday, May 18, 2026, in Dallas. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, a Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate, speaks to supporters while campaigning for his primary runoff race Monday, May 18, 2026, in Dallas. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)
