Is Brooks Lee Ready?

[bean5302]

18 minutes ago, RpR said:

He had two good game in May which jacked his OPS from .448 to 1.099 and BA to .368.

By Sept. his BA was.218 when his strike out rate temp. slowed down and it was up to .249 by seasons end with a raised OPS of .877.

Except Matt Wallner has never started the year with the Twins. The comment appears designed to lead people to believe Matt Wallner is a slow starter, a guy who needs extra plate appearances before his timing gets ironed out and his bat comes around to explain the poor Spring Training. That has not been the case. Wallner has generally raked out of the gate. 

Matt Wallner, first 10 games.
2021 = .289/.378/.553 OPS .930, 11.1% BB, 44.4% K, wRC+ 147 (A+)
2022 = .083/.205/.167 OPS .371, 13.6% BB, 43.2% K, wRC+ -9 (AA) 
2023 = .214/.333/.464 OPS .798, 9.1% BB, 39.4% K, wRC+ ? (AAA/MLB) 

Matt Wallner, first 20 games.
2021 = .338/.398/.635 OPS 1.033, 7.2% BB, 36.1% K, wRC+ 173 (A+)
2022 = .243/.353/.543 OPS .896, 15.3% BB, 38.8% K, wRC+ 117 (AA)
2023 = .250/.432/.482 OPS .915, 20.2% BB, 32.4% K, wRC+ ? (AAA/MLB/AAA)

As far as I'm concerned Wallner is just making some adjustments or changing his approach or it's just SSS luck this Spring.

Edited March 22, 2024 by bean5302
Wallner did start the first 6 of his first 10 Games with the Twins in 2023, sorry. Numbers adjusted.

[FlyingFinn]

6 hours ago, bean5302 said:

This is not true. Wallner has raked right out of the gate 2 of the past 3 seasons.

2023 - 2 homers in 76 AB's through May 12 in a league where hitters dominated.2 homers in 56 at bats through April 29 (hitting .161) in 2022. Obviously I'm cherry picking my dates and he takes off and kills the ball after these dates, often in bunches. He's a homer hitter, hitting 52 homers in 2022 and 2023. I get your point that his average is sometimes okay early. HIs homer swing is often not in the groove early and that is one of the main parts of his game. Hoping he finds his homer swing early this year. If Wallner only hits 2 homers in his first 50 to 75 AB's, are people ready to ship him to AAA?

[RpR]

14 minutes ago, FlyingFinn said:

2023 - 2 homers in 76 AB's through May 12 in a league where hitters dominated.2 homers in 56 at bats through April 29 (hitting .161) in 2022. Obviously I'm cherry picking my dates and he takes off and kills the ball after these dates, often in bunches. He's a homer hitter, hitting 52 homers in 2022 and 2023. I get your point that his average is sometimes okay early. HIs homer swing is often not in the groove early and that is one of the main parts of his game. Hoping he finds his homer swing early this year. If Wallner only hits 2 homers in his first 50 to 75 AB's, are people ready to ship him to AAA?

Just under 50 percent strike out rate.

 

[Reptevia]

Not if his defense needs work and he’s a platoon candidate. We have a roster full of those guys. (If they’re healthy!)

[C-Gangster]

I proved you all wrong 🤣

[jaimedude]

Hope Lee's bat can catch fire. 

[RpR]

1 hour ago, jaimedude said:

Hope Lee's bat can catch fire. 

Hope his fielding improves.

[Schmoeman5]

On 9/1/2024 at 1:00 PM, C-Gangster said:

I proved you all wrong 🤣

Not really. 

[Schmoeman5]

3 hours ago, Schmoeman5 said:

Not really. 

Oh yeah. You're right. Brooks has been tearing it up offensively and he's Ozzie Smith at SS. My bad.

[RpR]

Lee is the next Witt Jr.

[ziggy]

Lee is certainly having trouble adjusting to the speed of the major leagues. Both offensively and defensively. For me it has really shown the value of Correa being the shortstop.

Is Lee ready for the big leagues now that we are in September? He is the Twins second best option as Shortstop and I hope he gets up to speed quickly, the season results are partially on his shoulders.

[Doctor Wu]

I hope this is one of those cases of a young player learning to play in the majors, having his ups and downs, and us fans being patient, but lately Brooks Lee just looks overmatched. 

[SwainZag]

8 hours ago, RpR said:

Lee is the next Witt Jr.

What's the relevance in comparing the two?  Yes, Witt is one of the best player's in the game period.  I think it's pretty obvious Lee isn't quite ready for the Majors, but comparing him to Witt does really nothing for anyone.

[stringer bell]

19 hours ago, SwainZag said:

What's the relevance in comparing the two?  Yes, Witt is one of the best player's in the game period.  I think it's pretty obvious Lee isn't quite ready for the Majors, but comparing him to Witt does really nothing for anyone.

I'll pile on here. Bobby Witt Jr. is one of the top five baseball players in MLB. He has great skill for someone so young and breathtaking tools. There have not been many like him. Lee has been thought of as a guy who will be a regular for a long time, who will get to some All-Star games and could have a long and successful career, but his tools are nowhere near what Witt Jr. has. I'd take a Roy Smalley-like career for Lee as a win. I think he ends up as a third baseman BTW.

[stringer bell]

Eight games to go and Lee is on the active major league roster despite a pretty bad slump since returning from injury. I think he would have been better served by staying in St. Paul all summer, but injuries necessitated his recall. He's made plenty of defensive mistakes, but I think he has the skill set to be an acceptable shortstop and a really good third baseman and probably a good second baseman as well. Figuring out the defensive placement of the Twins' best hitters will be a next-year's problem I guess.

It wouldn't surprise me if Lee doesn't make the team out of ST next season, but he'll get his chances and I would expect far better results in 2025.

[lecroy24fan]

38 minutes ago, stringer bell said:

It wouldn't surprise me if Lee doesn't make the team out of ST next season, but he'll get his chances and I would expect far better results in 2025.

Send him to winter ball and work him a lot at 2B since that's likely to be a hole going into 2024, unless that's where Lewis ends up. Also if they do what I think could happen and let Castro walk, Lee could be the utility guy. 

[RpR]

9 hours ago, lecroy24fan said:

Send him to winter ball and work him a lot at 2B since that's likely to be a hole going into 2024, unless that's where Lewis ends up. Also if they do what I think could happen and let Castro walk, Lee could be the utility guy. 

LOL, Lee and Lewis are gaping holes in defense, let them walk.

[jaimedude]

Nope.