It has been an up and down season for Minnesota Twins top prospect Brooks Lee. Taken No. 8 overall out of Cal-Poly in the 2022 MLB Draft, the 23-year-old switch hitting infielder has proven himself as the pro-ready all-around player he was projected to be with three years of college experience under his belt.
Or has he? In a rather small 26 MLB game sample size , Lee currently holds an underwhelming .253 batting average and .642 OPS. That may come as a surprise for fans who can’t get Lee’s first eight games out of their head. Remember, when he went 12-for-33 (.364) with 2 homers and 9 RBI. Yeah, you remember…
After a major drop-off in play, Brooks Lee was eventually moved back to the injured list, this time with shoulder pain. Now, he is four games into another rehab assignment, and expected to be activated any day. More than likely, he will join the Minnesota Twins when that happens.
Brooks Lee not in Minnesota Twins playoff plans?
But what about when Carlos Correa returns from his injury? Let’s say (and pray) that the rest of the Twins’ infield is healthy, does Brooks Lee currently have a spot? Maybe not. Jose Miranda is in the middle of one of the best bounce-back seasons in organization history. He’s batting .299 with an .813 OPS and improved defense.
Carlos Santana is one of the hottest hitters on the team and a gold glove candidate at 1st base. Obviously, Carlos Correa will play shortstop, when he eventually returns, and Royce Lewis started taking ground balls at 2nd base for the first time prior to Tuesday’s game vs the Atlanta Braves.
For those keeping track at home, that’s a full infield. If you think Lee will play over Miranda, or that there is some sort of miscalculation in my reasoning, go ahead and read between the lines on what Dan Hayes (The Athletic) wrote on Wednesday morning.
Related: Twins Pondering a Position Change for Royce Lewis?
Once Correa returns from injury, the Minnesota Twins’ beat writer was projecting what the infield will look like. Let’s just say, there is a reason why Royce Lewis is working out at 2nd base. You may also notice one name that is very absent from Hayes’ thinking.
Potentially playing Lewis at second would allow the Twins to keep his bat in the lineup alongside Jose Miranda and Carlos Correa when he returns from the injured list. Lewis is batting .265/.329/.568 with 15 home runs and 40 RBIs in 210 plate appearances this season. He’s played 53 games overall, making 31 appearances at third base.
Dan Hayes – The Athletic
Remember, Brooks Lee is in the middle of a rehab assignment right now. If he was in the Twins healthy infield plans, Dan would have mentioned him above, instead of Miranda… or at least alongside him.
More than likely, the No. 13 prospect in all of baseball wasn’t mentioned because, when everyone is available, he isn’t a part of Minnesota’s 2024 infield plans. Not as a starter, anyway.
Difficult debut season for Twins top prospect
Brooks Lee may have had a chance to make the Twins’ big league roster out of Spring Training. Unfortunately, back pain eventually became too big of a problem for him to play through. He was placed on IR before the season started.
Lee finally made his 2024 debut on May 20 , in Fort Myers as part of a rehab assignment. On June 5, he was activated from the injured list and assigned to St. Paul, with the Triple-A Saints. Before long, he was the best hitter in the Saints’ lineup.
Related: Minnesota Twins Claim Familiar Pitcher
Less than a month after being assigned to St. Paul ( July 3 ), injuries in the Twins’ infield forced the Twins to promote Lee for his MLB debut, where he quickly made his impact on teammates and opposing pitchers.
When going right, Brooks is a force. Not having room for him in a lineup could be what some would call “champagne problems”. Let’s just get to full-health first, then go from there. But this is something worth keeping an eye on.
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