KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Royce Lewis is riding such a hot streak, even his movie selections can’t miss.

To distract themselves during Monday’s trade deadline, Minnesota Twins players went to the movies. Most players planned to see the blockbuster smash hit, “The Odyssey,” but the timing didn’t work out; instead, they saw “Spider-Man: Brand New Day.”

Not Lewis.

Recognizing they’d miss only a little bit of the Marvel movie, Lewis and teammate Trevor Larnach opted for a double feature and headed to a 10:30 a.m. showing of “The Odyssey.” Doing so meant they missed the first 10 minutes of Spider-Man, but Lewis didn’t seem to mind.

“Odyssey over Spider-Man,” he said. “Christopher Nolan is a really good director and producer.”

On the field, Lewis has been a great director himself, producing runs again right when the Twins need him most. Two months after he returned from a minor-league demotion designed to get him back on track, Lewis is a force at the plate again.

Since June 6, Lewis is hitting .271/.338/.505 with 12 doubles, 10 homers and 25 RBIs.

Whether it’s his metrics, statistics or the eye test, Lewis looks the part. When he homered Thursday, it extended a career-high hit streak to 11 games. He’s also reached base in a career-best 17 straight games.

Even Lewis’ outs are loud. His home run Thursday exited his bat at 104.2 mph. Meanwhile, his two lineouts registered exit velocities of 106.1 mph and 108.2. He also grounded into a 108.2 mph forceout.

“Nothing against (Kansas City Royals third baseman) Josh Rojas, but that ball caught him,” Twins manager Derek Shelton said. “That ball was smoked. … (Lewis) is in a good spot. His foul balls are right straight back, too. He is on everything right now, which is really important for us.”

In mid-May, Lewis was in the biggest funk of his career. Striking out more than ever, he couldn’t get on track.

Slashing .163/.261/.279, Lewis was in such a funk that he wildly fouled off two bunt attempts in a May 17 win over the Milwaukee Brewers. At the time, it seemed like an admission from Lewis, whose 31.1 percent strikeout rate was 10 percent above his career mark, that he didn’t know how to escape his slump.

Two days later, the Twins optioned Lewis to Triple-A St. Paul without offering a firm idea of when he’d return.

In typical Lewis fashion, he homered in his first at-bat in Triple-A and proceeded to destroy minor-league pitching. In 60 plate appearances after his demotion, Lewis blasted eight home runs and produced a .340/.417/.868 slash line.

With the Saints, Lewis inserted a timing mechanism into his swing with his back foot and found a way to feel more dangerous at the plate. Still, the leap back to the majors was difficult.

“It gives you confidence — it always helps when you’re hitting homers every day or whatever it is,” said Lewis. “But the drastic change in levels. When I came back up, it was a big difference. Everything just seems faster, sharper, more movement.”

Still, the comfort Lewis discovered with his swing in the minors is helping him succeed now. The differences between his first two months and last two are vast.

“It’s a long year,” Lewis said. “Sometimes they fall and sometimes they don’t. You just have to keep grinding. Honestly, it probably started (at) Triple-A when I went down. I made some good adjustments and felt like myself, cleaned up some path stuff. Now you just go out there and fight every day, every pitch and give your best for the team.”

Lewis is doing all he can to help a Twins team working through the absence of Byron Buxton.

Ironically, the same move that two months ago looked like a white flag from Lewis had appeared to have the opposite effect Wednesday. With the Twins locked in a scoreless tie against Royals lefty Noah Cameron, Lewis bunted for a base hit to load the bases. Noticing Kansas City first baseman Jac Caglianone was playing back with two runners on, Lewis bunted to the right side for a single.

“I’m just happy I’m going good,” Lewis said. “I feel like I’m back doing my thing and I love it. … I’m trying to do anything for my team right now.”

Aside from that bunt, most of the recent balls off his bat have been rockets. Before he was sent down, Lewis had a 41.2 percent hard-hit rate. Now, he’s increased it to 44.8 percent. He’s also seen a massive jump in average exit velocity, from 87.9 mph before the demotion to 91.8 since.

“It’s huge,” third baseman Brooks Lee said. “He’s hitting for power, getting on base. We need it.”

Perhaps Lewis knew exactly what his former workout partner Larnach needed, too. Two offseasons ago, Larnach came to Frisco, Texas, where Lewis previously lived during the offseason to work out.

The two have remained close and had lockers near each other in Seattle over the weekend when Larnach was nearly traded to the Houston Astros. Early Saturday, Larnach learned of the deal that would have sent him to the Astros in exchange for reliever Bryan Abreu, an accord that Houston owner Jim Crane nixed.

Rather than make Larnach wait around the hotel all day, Lewis joined his friend to watch “The Odyssey” and then “Spider-Man.”

“We got up extra early,” Larnach said. “We weren’t just going to sit in our hotel room all day. On deadline day, that ain’t happening. … It definitely made the morning go by quick and the afternoon.”

Real Madrid and Barcelona are difficult for English clubs to compete with when the world’s most coveted players become available.

Jude Bellingham is a striking example. Having left Birmingham City for Borussia Dortmund to continue his development, the England midfielder moved to Real Madrid rather than back to his home country.

He remains the only player to represent England’s senior men’s team during the Premier League era without making an appearance in the competition.

Kylian Mbappe was linked with several clubs elsewhere before fulfilling his ambition of joining Real Madrid, while Neymar chose Barcelona over interest from Premier League teams when leaving Santos in 2013 – attracted in part by the chance to play alongside Lionel Messi.

Cristiano Ronaldo left Manchester United for Real Madrid a year after winning the Ballon d’Or, while Luis Suarez joined Barcelona months after winning the Premier League Golden Boot and PFA Players’ Player of the Year with Liverpool.

And Gareth Bale and Eden Hazard swapped London for Madrid after establishing themselves among the Premier League’s leading players. Bale joined Real from Tottenham in 2013 after winning the PFA Players’ Player of the Year award for a second time, while Hazard made the same move from Chelsea six years later, having previously won the league’s top individual honour.

Harry Kane later departed Tottenham for Bayern Munich despite sitting only 47 goals behind Alan Shearer’s Premier League record of 260.

There are practical attractions to Spain – climate, lifestyle and, for many South American players, linguistic and cultural familiarity – but the appeal runs deeper.

Real Madrid and Barcelona carry a particular status as destination clubs, reinforced by their Champions League history, global reach and association with individual honours such as the Ballon d’Or.

Both have been interested in Rodri this summer.

The Football Association has banned solid perimeter walls around pitches after a safety review was launched following the death of former Arsenal youth player Billy Vigar.

The 21-year-old died after sustaining a “significant brain injury” while playing for Chichester City at Wingate and Finchley FC in September 2025.

It is thought the injury was caused when he collided with a concrete wall.

The review, conducted by independent health and safety experts for the 2026-27 season, said it “no longer permits solid brick, breeze block or concrete barriers around pitches across the National League system for men [steps 1-6], and the Women’s National League [tiers 3-4]”.

An FA statement added: “Any existing solid brick, breeze block or concrete barriers must be removed as soon as reasonably practicable, or covered with suitable protection if they cannot be removed for structural reasons.

“We have informed the clubs at this level that will be required to take action as a result of these changes.”

Matches at affected grounds can continue as long as clubs assess “the safety of their pitch perimeter barriers on an ongoing basis” and plan to make changes “within a reasonable timeframe”.

The FA and Premier League will provide funding to facilitate the changes.

After Vigar’s death, a petition calling for a ban on brick walls around football pitches has received more than 4,000 signatures.

The government and the Professional Footballers’ Association wrote to the FA, Premier League, English Football League and National League in June 2023, calling on them to adopt a more proactive approach to player safety in this area.

That came after Bath City’s Alex Fletcher suffered a fractured skull after colliding with a concrete advertising hoarding during a match in November 2022.