When the Twins selected Brooks Lee with the eighth overall pick in the 2022 Draft, the team coveted his prowess at the plate and projected that the switch-hitter one day would evolve into an impact bat in the Majors.
So far, Minnesota must be thrilled with the early returns. Lee has hit well at every level so far – a trend he’s continued with Double-A Wichita. On Wednesday, baseball's No. 18 prospect amassed his second four-hit game of the season (the third of his career) for Wichita at Riverfront Stadium.
Lee filled the stat sheet, going 4-for-6 with a homer, three runs scored and two RBIs in a 19-10 slugfest loss to Frisco. The 5-foot-11, 205-pound switch-hitter saved the best for last, launching a two-run moonshot to right-center field while hitting from the left side in the ninth inning.
Lee’s 11th long ball of the year wasn’t a cheapie either, flying off the bat at a reported 106 mph and traveling an estimated 432 feet. Out of the leadoff spot, the top Twins prospect also pulled singles to left in the first and sixth and to right while batting from the right in the eighth.
After Lee's first four-hit game of the year against Springfield on July 16, Wind Surge bench coach Takashi Miyoshi credited his success to a steady approach at the plate.
“He knows exactly what he needs to work on in the cages and also in the game too,” Miyoshi told MLB.com. “He’s mature enough as a 22-year-old to handle Double-A pitching, and today was definitely a testament that he’s going to be one of the great Major League Baseball players in the future.”
Lee's average has crept up to .293 and his 11 home runs are nearly triple the amount he finished with in 31 games last season, as he's begun to tap into his power while maintaining his status as an excellent contact hitter.
Over the past 10 games, Lee sports an otherworldly .442/.447/.733 slash line. The former Cal Poly standout continues to limit strikeouts while maximizing contact at the plate. Lee has 96 hits (good for sixth in the Texas League) and only 22 strikeouts so far this season. He's also tied for sixth on the circuit in runs (61) and tied for seventh in RBIs (57).
"He’s a creative, skilled, instinctual player," Twins scouting director Sean Johnson told MLB.com after last year’s Draft. "He comes from a really strong baseball family. They’re similar in that nature, that they just have really good instincts, elite baseball IQ, great feel for the game. Really great feel to hit in the batter’s box.”
All of that must be cause for excitement for Minnesota, as the brass can picture another genuine threat joining the lineup on the horizon.