Brooks Lee is starting to earn key Twins at-bats and manager Rocco Baldelli's trust

New York Times

6 days ago

Brooks Lee's offensive numbers in his sophomore season are modest, including a mediocre .235 batting average entering Tuesday and a .638 OPS that sat 70 points below the league-wide mark, but it's apparent the Minnesota Twins' switch-hitting infielder has already gained manager Rocco Baldelli's trust.
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Baldelli speaks about Lee as if he were a 10-year MLB veteran rather than a 24-year-old in his first full season with the Twins, praising his baseball IQ, work ethic and calm demeanor. Part of that is due to Lee looking competent defensively at three positions, a sure way to any manager's heart.
'No matter what we ask him to do,' Baldelli said, 'Brooks will be ready.'
Lee has bounced seamlessly between second base and third base, and has also filled in capably for Carlos Correa at shortstop when needed, allowing Baldelli to mix and match infield alignments for a banged-up lineup that's often been forced to improvise because of injuries.
'You can throw things at him and he can handle them,' Baldelli said. 'I'm into challenging players. I think they respond and grow and turn into even better versions of themselves. And he's got really good ability. He doesn't have a ton of major-league experience, but you see him getting better.'
But it's the relatively subtle strides Lee has recently made at the plate that have earned Baldelli's most effusive praise. After failing to generate much hard contact as a rookie, Lee has raised his average exit velocity from 85.8 mph to 89.6 mph and upped his hard-hit rate from 25 percent to 39 percent.
'I think the way he's approaching his at-bats really stands out right now,' Baldelli said. 'He's seeing the ball deeper and he's fouling tough pitches off. And when he gets a mistake, and something he wants to offer at and take a good pass at, he's in position to do so. He's really developing as a hitter.'
Brooks got all of that one! pic.twitter.com/DTtVKOqZZy
— Minnesota Twins (@Twins) May 11, 2025
Lee has four homers in 39 games this season after totaling three homers in 50 games as a rookie. His expected slugging percentage has risen from .340 to .406 and he's elevating the ball much more, giving himself a larger opportunity for extra bases.
Doing that without a sizable jump in strikeouts shows progress toward becoming a more reliably dangerous hitter. But there's still plenty of room for improvement. Lee chases too many pitches outside the strike zone and specifically struggles to lay off low changeups.
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Last year, opponents tested the rookie by throwing 51.8 percent of pitches in the zone, well above the 48.7 percent league-wide rate. But because Lee chased non-strikes so often, they've adjusted their game plan against him this year, throwing just 46.5 percent of pitches in the zone. That's a big change.
After seeing 55 percent fastballs as a rookie, Lee has faced just 45.3 percent fastballs this season. That's the lowest rate in the Twins' lineup, by far, and the third-lowest rate among 113 qualified American League hitters, one spot behind the world's scariest slugger, Aaron Judge.
Teams identified plate discipline as a weakness for Lee and are making him prove he can lay off borderline pitches. He's responded by cutting his chase rate from an ugly 35.8 percent to a merely run-of-the-mill poor 30.8 percent, but it's still something teams exploit for whiffs or weak contact.
'It's a roller coaster,' Lee said. 'I'm trying to do a good job (bouncing back from slumps). Personally, it feels like I struggle with it. I put a lot of stock in every at-bat. I've always been that way. That's why I thank my teammates all the time, because they care about me. They want to make sure that I'm not going down in the deep end.'
But that's also generally to be expected for a 24-year-old, and Lee's contact skills are still a sturdy foundation on which to build. However, he'll need to make adjustments of his own or risk letting smart pitchers turn a strength (strikeout avoidance) into a weakness (popups and other easy outs).
Of late, Baldelli has often had Lee in the middle of the lineup, which speaks to the manager's belief in his ability to put together competitive at-bats and come through in big spots. Lee did both in Saturday's 5-4 win over the Kansas City Royals, going 3-for-5 with a walk-off single — on an in-zone fastball.
'I was happy I got a guy who threw lots of fastballs, to be honest,' Lee said. 'Just trying to make sure that I got my pitch. Runners on second and third doesn't mean anything. I just tried to get something out over the plate, stick with my approach and hopefully good things happen. And it did.'
Brooks Lee and the @Twins walk it off for the SECOND consecutive day! pic.twitter.com/moEl5EYCUf
— MLB (@MLB) May 24, 2025
He's batting .288 with runners on base overall, .345 with runners in scoring position and .360 in high-leverage situations, making an impact beyond his middling overall stats. Lee has a positive Win Probability Added despite a below-average OPS, justifying his prime lineup spot with clutch moments.
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'There is a reason why we're willing to hit (Lee) up towards the top of the order on certain days,' Baldelli said. 'I like the way he responds to different situations. And he's putting himself in a position to succeed by the way he's approaching the game.'
That responsibility isn't lost on Lee, who spent most of his injury-filled and unproductive rookie campaign batting at the bottom of the order. Now he's a key contributor for a team that's won 23 of its last 32 games to climb into prime playoff position following a brutal 7-15 start.
'I'm thankful for that, where (Baldelli) puts me in the lineup,' Lee said. 'It just means they have faith in me, and it puts faith in myself. Not be so hard on myself. That's a special thing for me, to go out there and play every day. Get at-bats right-handed and left-handed. Play second, short and third.'
Bigger picture, the skills that made Lee a college star playing for his father Larry Lee at Cal Poly, and later the No. 8 pick in the 2022 draft and a top-50 prospect, have been on display. He's a versatile, sure-handed fielder. He has a smooth swing and very good contact skills. And he acts like a coach's kid.
The next step for Lee is more consistency, specifically tightening up his plate discipline to force pitchers to attack him in the zone, where he can take better advantage of his natural bat-to-ball ability to fully unlock every ounce of power. He's on the right track, and has his manager's faith.
'He's a player who can help you win in a lot of different ways,' Baldelli said. 'You're talking about a switch-hitting infielder who has adaptability, a good baseball head and IQ, and who's also making adjustments at the plate from both sides. It's something new every day that he's bringing to the table.'