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Tyson Lewis thought he knew what to expect in his first game with the Dayton Dragons.
“I’ve heard the fan base is electric here,” he said Tuesday, June 30, after his first game. “I knew it was going to be fun. I didn’t know it was going to be this fun.”
The Dragons, who lead the minor leagues in attendance, suffered a frustrating loss to Lansing in 11 innings. But in baseball there’s almost always a game the next day to wash away the disappointment. And when you are making your first appearance at the next level of your development, family often comes to the first game.
Afterward, Lewis spent time with family, talking through the netting behind home plate. Then, as he made his way toward the dugout, he was stopped twice by small groups of kids for autographs. He signed for all of them.
“I think about like when I was a kid, how cool I would’ve thought that would have been,” Lewis said.
The knowledgeable fans, including those kids, know who Tyson Lewis is.
The Reds drafted him in the second round in 2024 out of high school and Yutan, Nebraska, where he was the state’s Gatorade Player of the Year after leading Millard West to a state championship. He is ranked the Reds’ No. 4 prospect by MLB.com and No. 5 by Baseball America.
Lewis, those signature-seeking kids expect, will be a big-leaguer one day and they will have a prize autograph to show off.
Lewis’ time in Dayton arrived this week because the Dragons’ four best hitters were promoted to AA Chattanooga after leading the team to a first-half division championship in the Midwest League. Lewis is one of the reinforcements the Dragons hope will put the team in position to win the league playoffs in September.
Dragons manager Julio Morillo is managing Lewis for the first time.
“He’s different, his mind is in the right place, he wants to work, he comes in early,” Morillo said.
Lewis’ development path in Dayton is to learn third base and become a more polished left-handed hitter.
Drafted as a shortstop, Lewis played that position exclusively in 2025 in 46 games of rookie ball in the Arizona Complex League and 35 games with Daytona in the Low-A Florida State League. This season in Daytona he made 25 starts at third base and 22 at shortstop. The plan in Dayton is to play third every day.
“It’s good — a new position for me,” Lewis said. “It’s been really fun learning the ins and outs of it. I’m just excited to keep getting more opportunities there.”
Lewis’ hitting skills will be evaluated and enhanced under hitting coach Troy Gingrich. Morillo said Gingrich will help Lewis clean up a few things in his swing.
In his combined stops in 2025, Lewis hit .311 with an .862 OPS in 81 games. He hit nine homers, batted in 54 runs and stole 27 bases. This year in Daytona he was limited to 52 games because of 17 days on the injured list the first half of June. He hit .243 with a .687 OPS, four homers, 26 RBIs and seven steals.
In his Dayton debut, Lewis batted seventh. In his first at-bat leading off the second inning, he lined a single to right. He finished 1-for-4 with a walk and two strikeouts. On Wednesday, he hit another first at-bat single, was 1-for-4 and executed a key sacrifice bunt that helped extend the game to the 11th inning where the Dragons won 9-8.
“Got the hit out of the way — that felt really good,” he said. “Got me rolling.”
Lewis’ first impressions of his new team were as favorable as the ones of playing in front of the fans.
“Professional for sure,” he said. “The coaches all take it very seriously, and are really, really good and really insightful — a lot of insightful things I heard today. You learn something every day in baseball. It’s a game of adjustments. It never stops.”
Lewis understands the high expectations of being a highly rated 20-year-old prospect. His goal is to ignore the hype.
“I try to stay off social media as much as I can, just not worry about those kinds of things,” he said. “I feel like at the end of the day, all I do is just worry about those things, and it kind of puts more thoughts in my head. So I’m trying to stay away from it and just be the player I know I can be. What matters is if you play in the big leagues.”
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“I’ve heard the fan base is electric here,” he said Tuesday, June 30, after his first game. “I knew it was going to be fun. I didn’t know it was going to be this fun.”
The Dragons, who lead the minor leagues in attendance, suffered a frustrating loss to Lansing in 11 innings. But in baseball there’s almost always a game the next day to wash away the disappointment. And when you are making your first appearance at the next level of your development, family often comes to the first game.
Afterward, Lewis spent time with family, talking through the netting behind home plate. Then, as he made his way toward the dugout, he was stopped twice by small groups of kids for autographs. He signed for all of them.
“I think about like when I was a kid, how cool I would’ve thought that would have been,” Lewis said.
The knowledgeable fans, including those kids, know who Tyson Lewis is.
The Reds drafted him in the second round in 2024 out of high school and Yutan, Nebraska, where he was the state’s Gatorade Player of the Year after leading Millard West to a state championship. He is ranked the Reds’ No. 4 prospect by MLB.com and No. 5 by Baseball America.
Lewis, those signature-seeking kids expect, will be a big-leaguer one day and they will have a prize autograph to show off.
Lewis’ time in Dayton arrived this week because the Dragons’ four best hitters were promoted to AA Chattanooga after leading the team to a first-half division championship in the Midwest League. Lewis is one of the reinforcements the Dragons hope will put the team in position to win the league playoffs in September.
Dragons manager Julio Morillo is managing Lewis for the first time.
“He’s different, his mind is in the right place, he wants to work, he comes in early,” Morillo said.
Lewis’ development path in Dayton is to learn third base and become a more polished left-handed hitter.
Drafted as a shortstop, Lewis played that position exclusively in 2025 in 46 games of rookie ball in the Arizona Complex League and 35 games with Daytona in the Low-A Florida State League. This season in Daytona he made 25 starts at third base and 22 at shortstop. The plan in Dayton is to play third every day.
“It’s good — a new position for me,” Lewis said. “It’s been really fun learning the ins and outs of it. I’m just excited to keep getting more opportunities there.”
Lewis’ hitting skills will be evaluated and enhanced under hitting coach Troy Gingrich. Morillo said Gingrich will help Lewis clean up a few things in his swing.
In his combined stops in 2025, Lewis hit .311 with an .862 OPS in 81 games. He hit nine homers, batted in 54 runs and stole 27 bases. This year in Daytona he was limited to 52 games because of 17 days on the injured list the first half of June. He hit .243 with a .687 OPS, four homers, 26 RBIs and seven steals.
In his Dayton debut, Lewis batted seventh. In his first at-bat leading off the second inning, he lined a single to right. He finished 1-for-4 with a walk and two strikeouts. On Wednesday, he hit another first at-bat single, was 1-for-4 and executed a key sacrifice bunt that helped extend the game to the 11th inning where the Dragons won 9-8.
“Got the hit out of the way — that felt really good,” he said. “Got me rolling.”
Lewis’ first impressions of his new team were as favorable as the ones of playing in front of the fans.
“Professional for sure,” he said. “The coaches all take it very seriously, and are really, really good and really insightful — a lot of insightful things I heard today. You learn something every day in baseball. It’s a game of adjustments. It never stops.”
Lewis understands the high expectations of being a highly rated 20-year-old prospect. His goal is to ignore the hype.
“I try to stay off social media as much as I can, just not worry about those kinds of things,” he said. “I feel like at the end of the day, all I do is just worry about those things, and it kind of puts more thoughts in my head. So I’m trying to stay away from it and just be the player I know I can be. What matters is if you play in the big leagues.”
Continue reading...
