MLB Insider Tags Former MN Twins Top Prospect as Breakout Star

The Minnesota Twins spent much of their offseason building around the idea that the talent they have in-house is good enough to win an AL Central title and return to the MLB Postseason. It also reflects the lack of commitment by an ownership group that has the team up for sale.

But given the amount of talent already on this club, and some of the prospects banging on the big league door, it’s not far fetched to see this roster producing 85-95 wins, if it can stay reasonably healthy and avoid the type of second-half collapse that doomed their 2024 season.

Last summer, thanks to a multitude of injuries that the MN Twins suffered throughout the regular season, there were plenty of big league promotions to be had. And none came with higher anticipation than that of top prospect, Brooks Lee, who the Twins drafted with the No. 8 overall pick in the 2022 MLB Draft.

Unfortunately, after a hot start to his big league career, Lee’s bat disappeared as the season went on and he finished with a disappointing .221/.265/.320 slash line in 172 at bats. This spring, Lee — who is no longer listed on Major League prospect lists — is just trying to make the Opening Day roster, something that is far from guaranteed.

Keith Law is all in on Brooks Lee

But even with plenty of questions surrounding the talented infielder’s young career, entering 2025, there are plenty around the game who still believe in Brooks Lee. And we can count The Athletic’s Keith Law as one of those Brooks Lee believers.

After a rookie season marred by injury, Law believes “we will see the real Brooks Lee this year” even going as far as to project the 24-year-old out of Cal-Poly as “a 2.5 WAR player” in 2025. Those are some lofty expectations for a kid who probably won’t make the roster out of camp…

“Let’s not overthink this one. Lee was a top-10 pick (No. 8, 2022), hit well in the minors, hit extremely well in Triple A last year and was awful in the majors when he wasn’t on the IL with a herniated disc in his back or shoulder soreness… A guy with back and shoulder problems who missed more than half the year couldn’t hit the ball as hard? You don’t say. I think we will see the real Brooks Lee this year, and he’s a 2.5+ WAR player.”

The Athletic

It doesn’t take a doctor to figure out how arm, shoulder and back issues could hamper a big leaguer’s production, especially a youngster, just getting accustomed to MLB pitching. This season, though, Lee has a better plan for his chronic back pain, and believes he is more prepared for the rigors of the MN Twins’ 162 game season.

Related: Unfortunately for Brooks Lee, the Twins 2B Competition is Fixed

Through ten Grapefruit League games, Lee is batting .267 with a .757 OPS with a pair of home runs; production the Minnesota Twins would happily take at second base this season… if he can make the 26-man roster, something that doesn’t appear all that likely, barring an injury in the infield or another roster shakeup in the next two weeks.

Former Minnesota Twins top prospect trying to catch up to the fastball

Contact, especially against fastballs, has never been a problem for Lee, until last season when he hit just .176 against the most basic pitch in baseball. And once opposing pitchers realized he was struggling to hit the fastball, they attacked like hungry sharks swimming through bloody saltwater, throwing him fastballs 33.9% of the time, as his offensive number continued to tumble.

“I always hammer fastballs. My whole life. Last year was the first time I never hit a fastball. It makes it pretty difficult to hit… I happened to fail after being on top of the world for two weeks. It sucked. (The first season) was not as enjoyable as I would have thought. But you play good, you feel good…When you have good mechanics, and your swing is quick, you don’t have any wasted movements, then you get to make a decision later. I think it’s a big difference in how I see the pitch and then my swing decisions…I just got to get back to that.”

Brooks Lee – The Athletic

Lee making slight mechanical tweaks, and being healthy, sounds like a perfect recipe to get back to the player we all know he can be. His 36.9% chase rate was five-percent above what he did at Triple-A last season. He cut down the whiff rate below 10% but his 64.6% contact rate on pitches out of the zone resulted in too many poorly hit baseballs, while up with the MN Twins.

Related: Insider Calls Minnesota Twins Starter a Breakout Candidate

A healthy Lee, with no back or arm issues, should be confident in his ability to drive the baseball and punish fastballs. It’s out of Lee’s hands as to what level he is playing at, come Opening Day. The former Minnesota Twins top prospect can, however, control the production he puts forth wherever he ends up, and then build off of that.