With Kyle Farmer Returning to the Twins, Should Brooks Lee Be Sent to Minors?

[Cody Schoenmann]

Rookie infielder Brooks Lee has sufficed as a defensive replacement for Carlos Correa. However, he is undergoing substantial struggles at the plate. Should he get demoted to Triple-A once Kyle Farmer returns from the 10-day IL?

Image courtesy of © Brian Bradshaw Sevald-USA TODAY Sports

Twins infielder Brooks Lee jumped onto the scene earlier this season, slashing .364/.371/.576 with 12 hits, one double, and two home runs over 35 plate appearances to begin his career. The 23-year-old rookie's underlying metrics confirm his hot start at the plate, as he posted a 14.3% strikeout rate, .212 Isolated Power (ISO), and 163 wRC+ in that stretch. Lee performing this well while filling in for then-injured star third baseman Royce Lewis was vital to helping the team enter the All-Star break strong, still within striking distance of the AL Central-leading Cleveland Guardians.

Lee's contributions were admirable, and there is still plenty of excitement about the consensus top-50 prospect's long-term potential. That said, he has fallen into an alarming lull at the plate, which could bode poorly for his short-term outlook on the team's 26-man roster. Since the Twins returned from the All-Star break on Jul. 20, Lee has hit .236/.306/.255, with 13 hits, one double, zero home runs, and a 60 wRC+ over 62 plate appearances. His ability to drive the ball and hit for power has suddenly diminished, evidenced by a .018 ISO. The switch-hitting infielder has struggled, particularly from the left side of the plate, posting a mere 75 wRC+ and a .272 wOBA over 78 plate appearances, compared to a 96 wRC+ and .303 wOBA over 32 plate appearances from the right side.

Despite lacking the present ability to produce at a plus level at the plate, Lee has provided significant value, stepping in as roughly the full-time shortstop during Carlos Correa's extended absence from the lineup. He's acquitted himself nicely with the glove, especially in contrast to how shaky utility player Willi Castro was at the position. The rookie infielder once again stepped in at a position typically occupied by one of the team's leaders and best players, but this time, it was at the most demanding defensive position on the field. Lee's flexibility and contributions have helped the team whittle Cleveland's divisional lead down to just 3 1/2 games, and he deserves his flowers. Still, his struggles at the plate are concerning, and he could be well-suited for an approach and mechanics refinement at Triple-A.

Earlier this week, the Twins didn't have enough organizational depth to consider demoting Lee to Triple-A. However, veteran utility infielder Kyle Farmer wrapping up his rehab assignment could theoretically permit the organization to demote their second-ranked prospect back to St. Paul. Admittedly, Farmer didn't perform well before landing on the 10-day IL in mid-July with a shoulder injury, posting a .189/.291/.265 with 25 hits, ten doubles, zero home runs, and a 64 wRC+ over 151 plate appearances. Farmer was the Twins' worst offensive player during the first half of the season. However, he provided defensive flexibility at second base, third base, and shortstop, plus the veteran leadership necessary to make it through a 162-game season.

Swapping out the 33-year-old wily vet for the young and upcoming Lee would be disappointing. Yet, the transaction could occur without Lee getting demoted. Lee has been managing shoulder soreness lately, which led to him sitting out the final game of the Chicago White Sox series and the first game of the Chicago Cubs series on Aug. 6 and 7, respectively. Before the White Sox series ended, Lee had been playing exclusively shortstop. However, he has played exclusively second base since the announcement of his shoulder injury. According to Dan Hayes of The Athletic, the team has shifted him to the right side of the diamond to "reduce the potential for long throws."

Assuming Farmer returns from his rehab assignment before the conclusion of the Cleveland series, the team could place Lee on the 10-day IL to rest his shoulder. If this is the course of action they take, Farmer could play the same role Lee did after the All-Star break, shifting between third base, second base, and shortstop. Although Farmer has a weaker arm and can't cover the same amount of ground as Lee, he would still be a functional infielder who could complement Castro, Lewis, José Miranda, and Austin Martin.

If Lee isn't placed on the 10-day IL, Farmer could still take Martin's spot on the 26-man roster. Despite providing defensive flexibility, a contact-skilled bat, and an innate knack for scoring when getting on base, Martin has struggled to produce at the plate and could be better suited to play every day and get more plate appearances at Triple-A. As noted earlier, Farmer has struggled at the plate this season. Yet, in a recent piece by Twins Daily's Theo Tollefson, he noted that he is adjusting his swing, specifically by closing his front hip a bit longer, similar to what he did in 2021. The organization won't designate Farmer for assignment, meaning they will have to make a tough roster crunch, assuming injuries don't make his addition to the 26-man roster a moot point. Lee and Martin are the most expendable players on the roster, meaning the corresponding move will likely be demoting one of them to Triple-A. While Lee has more long-term upside, his role is redundant with what Farmer offers, meaning team decision-makers could elect to keep Martin instead.

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[karcherd]

Farmer has done nothing this year to deserve a spot on the 26 man roster.  Any other team would have DFA'd him by now even with his contract.  He should come back for Martin and DFA'd when Correa comes back.

[dxpavelka]

Farmer on the big league roster and Lee not is the kind of thing that makes me happy to watch football.

[William K Johnson]

Sending him down until September would not be a bad idea.    Remember Buxton was yo-yo'ed between AAA and the majors several times before finally settling in.    One other question, why can we not play Lewis at short?   This gets Miranda and Lewis and a DH in the lineup at the same time and frees Castro up.

[mikelink45]

Absolutely not - both Martin and Farmer have worse lines than the figures you have for Lee's downtime.  He is our future.  Let him figure things out at the plate.  Farmer and Martin have much more experience but cannot do what Lee does and do not hit as well.  Why would we want Farmer back?  Why do we like Martin so much?

[tony&rodney]

19 minutes ago, William K Johnson said:

One other question, why can we not play Lewis at short? 

This is a reasonable question when one considers that Lewis played quite a bit of shortstop in the minor leagues. However, Royce has never been even adequate as a shortstop and is mostly a DH right now until such time as his legs are whole.

The Twins face a little bit of a short term issue. Someone needs to hold down SS until Correa gets back. Castro has done a decent job at the position but is more suited for LF or 2B. If Lee cannot throw he likely needs an IL stint. Farmer can no longer play shortstop though. It will be interesting to see how the Twins navigate the next two weeks. 

[JD-TWINS]

Farmer is a depth guy that the Team likes to have around…….big time underperformed to date in ‘24. That said, Lee is certainly not right at the plate and could be valuable in September……….his shoulder is bothering him at some level. Not sure if this soreness is leaking into his offense? Seems an IL stint for 10 days and another 10 days or so working on his swing through game reps in St. Paul & he’s back when roster expands.

I’d really prefer Lee stick around until CC is back but not sure when that might be? Martin going down for Farmer & then Lee for Correa works. Depending upon Lee’s shoulder and how much discomfort he’s in - this drives the decision.

[Fatbat]

Like Jackson Holliday, Lee needs the AAA reset time.  Give Farmer a few weeks. If he stinks, bring Lee back if he is ready/reset

[DaveW44]

Farmer should never take another at bat with the Twins. Not one. 

[mickster]

1 hour ago, karcherd said:

Farmer has done nothing this year to deserve a spot on the 26 man roster.  Any other team would have DFA'd him by now even with his contract.  He should come back for Martin and DFA'd when Correa comes back.

Martin may end up on the DL.    But I would rather have Farmer/Correa then Lee/Martin.   They both will be in St. Paul soon.   Lee will be better his second time up, i.e. Jackson Holliday

[chpettit19]

Lee going back down isn't outlandish, but Kyle Farmer brings nothing to the field for a team trying to fight for it's division/wild card life in August and September. By all means let him keep collecting checks and hang out in the clubhouse and dugout as a "glue guy," but you can't be crossing your fingers that he's finally found his already below average swing in August as you face Cleveland, KC, Texas, San Diego, St Louis, Atlanta, and Toronto. The first 6 of those teams are still fighting for playoff spots. Farmer has no spot on this team if there aren't more injuries to come.

[Yoke]

Lee probably shouldn’t go down when Farmer comes back, but should if Correa comes back soon.

 

Farmer hasn’t played well enough to automatically get a spot back. Downgrading while in a pennant race feels like a bad idea.

[Peter]

No!!! We need Lee playing in these stretch of games!!! Farmer can’t hit-great guy to have around but no!!! Need to take series against Cleveland and Kansas City/0 margins for error here on out!!! Time to take back division lead/finally break Minnesota curse of not winning championships!!  Go Twins! B

[Road trip]

These are all unfortunate choices.

Farmer's performance fell off a cliff.  Had he repeated his 2023 line he would be a perfectly adequate utility infielder....but he didn't, and likely won't going forward.

MLB pitchers pretty quickly figured out how to exploit Lee's weaknesses as a hitter.  He has some things to work on, and didn't get all that many at bats at AAA (237, to be exact).  A little more time there would probably help his long term development.

Martin isn't very good defensively anywhere, but he's kinda sorta adequate at several positions, if you accept below average play as adequate.  He runs well though, seems to take intelligent at bats, and his hitting has been roughly equivalent of Lee's thus far.  Like Lee, he hasn't had a ton of at bats in AAA (267).  

One of these guys is gonna play pretty much every day in the middle infield until Correa gets back....someday, hopefully very soon, but that's just hope.  None of them would be considered solid MLB starters at this point.  Lee is likely the closest to this (if healthy), so I'd keep him up and rotate him with Farmer at 2b/SS.  I guess that means Martin goes down until Sept 1.

[Rufus]

It's only a couple of weeks until the Sept. call ups.  Martin is needed in the outfield, especially with Buxton hurting.   Sending Lee down for a couple of weeks might help him refine his stroke.  It has done so for others.  If Farmer does massively fail when reactivated he can still be DFAed the and Lee recalled.   

[DJL44]

I would keep Farmer in the minors for the maximum 20 days of his rehab or until someone else needs to go on the injured list. Lee is playing good defense and his bat will develop faster in the majors than  against bad AAA pitching.

[Fatbat]

Lewis/Castro at SS and Miranda/Farmer/Castro at 3rd  Castro/Martin at 2nd

There are a lot of possibilities and flexibility built into our roster without Lee or Correa

 

[Craig Arko]

I think that’s what will happen. Should? I don’t know. If that’s the best way for Lee to play every day then yes.

[karcherd]

Everybody commenting on September callups, remember you can only go to 28 players, so only two additional players can be added.  And I believe one has to be a pitcher.  So September is not going to solve any supposed roster crunch. 

[Mike Sixel]

Offer him retirement and a bench coach job. They don't trust him to play short and he isn't a hitter at all somehow anymore. The only way it makes any sense to have him in the majors is if Lee is hurt. If really like to root for a team that trusts is youth and jettisons bad veterans. I mean, if Lee is down, who the hell is he even going to mentor?

[Mike Sixel]

1 minute ago, karcherd said:

Everybody commenting on September callups, remember you can only go to 28 players, so only two additional players can be added.  And I believe one has to be a pitcher.  So September is not going to solve any supposed roster crunch. 

Correct. 

[Blyleven2011]

Ditto to all the posted opinions  , it a tough decision  ...

[h2oface]

Lee playing hurt right now is a bad idea. Either IL him or send him down. It couldn't hurt. He needs to stop hurting. Either way, have a hypnotist hypnotize him during the lull so he thinks it he is just being brought up for the first time. Repeat every couple of weeks, before the slumping starts. I don't know why this option isn't used more often in cases like this.

 

[karcherd]

1 minute ago, Blyleven2011 said:

Ditto to all the posted opinions  , it a tough decision  ...

It's really not that tough of a decision when you have a player that has not earned his spot on the roster.

[h2oface]

Doesn't Farmer need another 30 days in the rehab? What? He reinjured the injury? Damn. I guess we just have to wait longer. 

[JD-TWINS]

1 hour ago, Bigfork Twins Guy said:

Not getting much with Farmer instead of Lee since his hitting was atrocious and he cannot play SS.  If Lee is truly injured, then IL him for 10-days and use Farmer at 2B and Castro at SS until either Lee or Correa comes back.  Unfortunately, this approach makes Farmer the backup SS should Castro get injured during those 10-days that Lee is on the IL.

Not sure who deemed Farmer unable to play SS? Not a rah, rah guy for Farmer but he seems as competent as Castro at short based on what I’ve seen.

Farmer as back-up, there’s worse things.

Farmer will be activated soon - just a matter of who they demote. I think they send Martin down & Farmer/Lee platoon at 2B until Correa’s back and Castro can move to 2B.

[JD-TWINS]

10 minutes ago, karcherd said:

It's really not that tough of a decision when you have a player that has not earned his spot on the roster.

Completely agree IF Lee is hitting at all and doesn’t also have a bad shoulder……..he isn’t & he does. Send him to 10 day IL and get the shoulder right, rested - he can be back in 10 days OR he gets a bunch of AB’s in St Paul after 10 days & he’s back in 3 weeks when roster expands.

[Fire Dan Gladden]

As bad as he was offensively, I am not 100% against having him back with the big club, especially with the injury situation on that side of the infield.

Established vet, the ability to play multiple positions (currently of need), who is liked in the clubhouse is necessary.  Farmer is sunk cost.  Give him a few weeks to see if he can regain his previous form while Correa, Lee, et al get healthy.

[pierre75275]

When Farmer comes back Lee will go on the DL, then a rehab assignment which can last 20 days, by then Sept rosters expand and Lee is back with the big club.

[DJL44]

27 minutes ago, JD-TWINS said:

Completely agree IF Lee is hitting at all and doesn’t also have a bad shoulder……..he isn’t & he does. Send him to 10 day IL and get the shoulder right, rested - he can be back in 10 days OR he gets a bunch of AB’s in St Paul after 10 days & he’s back in 3 weeks when roster expands.

Lee with a bad shoulder is still outplaying 2024 Kyle Farmer.