‘That kid is a stud’: Lee has Twins gushing
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Sometimes, Brooks Lee nonetheless offers temporary glimpses of the truth that he has solely been an expert for simply greater than seven months now, with all of 31 Minor League video games underneath his belt. Like when he gushes that it’s “pretty freaking cool” to be in massive league camp with a “lot of cooler players” round him, or when the 22-year-old notes that he’s the youngest participant in camp — and thinks he appears the half, too.
Then, he will get on the baseball area. With the bat in his fingers, it’s laborious to imagine he’s the identical child soaking all of it in for the primary time.
“Man, that kid is a stud,” shortstop Carlos Correa mentioned. “I really, really, really like this kid. I’m very, very high on him. Don’t be surprised if we see him up this year.”
This yr? That’s a daring assertion, contemplating Lee was solely chosen with the No. 8 total choose of the 2022 Draft final July.
But then, you contemplate that Lee was described as arguably essentially the most polished hitter in his Draft class final summer season, or that he hit .303/.388/.451 throughout three Minor League ranges final season with practically as many walks (16) as strikeouts (20) and completed the yr by going 8-for-18 within the Double-A playoffs in his first style of the excessive Minors — and, properly, it’s not so laborious for Correa to dream.
“He’s on everybody’s radar already,” supervisor Rocco Baldelli mentioned. “He can come here and make a good impression, leave some people impressed. He’s starting to do that.”
Because the Twins waited till the fifth day of Grapefruit League motion to get Correa right into a sport at shortstop, Lee — Minnesota’s No. 1 prospect per MLB Pipeline — has had loads of alternatives to play alongside massive league starters in Baldelli’s early lineups. He went 4-for-12 with hits in every of his first three video games earlier than going 0-for-3 because the beginning shortstop within the Twins’ 4-2 victory over the Rays on Thursday at Tropicana Field. He appears the half at shortstop.
For as a lot as Lee is hoping to study from his first style of massive league camp, the Twins’ hitting coaches are desirous to proceed studying about him, too. They know that Lee, a switch-hitter, has a quite simple swing that enables him to cowl the strike zone and discover the barrel very naturally, an total image described as “just hitter-ish, man,” by Shawn Schlechter, Lee’s hitting coach with High-A Cedar Rapids.
Undoubtedly helped by the affect of his father, longtime Cal Poly head baseball coach Larry Lee, Brooks Lee pressured pitchers and caught along with his method — and the Twins simply watched the present.
“For the most part, it was us getting to know him and what makes him tick and how he works,” Schlechter mentioned. “We really didn’t push too much in terms of development when he got to Cedar Rapids. We just let him do his thing.”
And when the Twins shocked Lee with the late-season promotion to Double-A Wichita, there was no motive to alter that.
“It was like, ‘Go out there, do your thing, be excited about being in Double-A right now and just do what you do,’” mentioned then-Wichita hitting coach Derek Shomon, now with the Twins’ massive league employees. “He’s an unbelievable player.”
There’s maybe some minor tweaking to be completed — and Lee is greater than receptive to supplementing the muse that has already helped him succeed. Lee says he’s making an attempt to enhance his pitch recognition and work on his defensive footwork — however the shortstop factor is way much less necessary with Correa embedded there.
“There’s nothing off-limits in my swing,” Lee mentioned. “Obviously, my dad and I have a pretty good foundation. It seems to be working, but they’re more than willing to try and help me out. I’m going to get all the answers I need from them.”
Regardless, the bat and maturity already stand out. And although Lee doesn’t know but the place he’ll begin 2023 within the Minors, who’s to say he can’t proceed this fast rise?
“He just thrives in this environment,” Schlechter mentioned. “It comes natural to him. It helps that he’s seen some of the guys in this clubhouse, in the big league clubhouse, and has gotten to interact with them. He feels at home. He acknowledges that and tells us that, and he plays like that on the field.”
“Everybody I talk to about him, it’s high praise, man,” Correa mentioned. “I don’t get impressed very easily. That was definitely a great pick by the Twins.”
