Brooks Lee and the Danger of Falling Into the Jose Miranda Trap

[Cody Christie]

Image courtesy of © Brad Rempel-Imagn Images

The Minnesota Twins believe in Brooks Lee, even if his on-field results haven’t matched the organization’s expectations. They believe in him because his approach, bat-to-ball skills, and polished college pedigree suggest he could be a foundational piece of the next great Twins lineup. But if Lee isn’t careful, he may be walking down a familiar road—the same one Jose Miranda traveled back to Triple-A St. Paul, perhaps for good.

The Contact Paradox
Lee’s ability to put the bat on nearly any pitch is both his greatest strength and his most pressing concern. While making contact is a highly coveted skill in today’s game, putting “pitchers’ pitches” in play doesn’t often result in much damage. Weak choppers, lazy fly balls, and soft groundouts aren’t much better than strikeouts, and in many cases, they’re worse, because they rob hitters of the chance to unlock power.

This was Miranda’s downfall. Despite his contact-heavy approach, he often put bad pitches in play, rolling over into outs rather than punishing mistakes. His strikeout numbers were never the problem (15.4% strikeout rate in 2024); it was the lack of consistent impact that held him back. His Hard-Hit% ranked in the 42nd percentile, and his Barrel% ranked in the 28th percentile. Lee is starting to show the early signs of falling into the same trap.

The Discipline Gap
In the minors, Lee’s bat played because pitchers weren’t as refined. His walk rates looked solid (10.0 BB%), but big-league pitchers are more willing to challenge hitters—and they have more ways to manipulate and bait them.

The numbers back it up. Lee currently owns a 31.3% chase rate, ranking in the 25th percentile in the American League. In other words, he’s swinging at pitches on which he simply can’t do damage. Against high-level pitching, that approach will bury a hitter quickly.

Lee vs. Miranda Swing Decisions

Player	Chase%	BB%	K%	Hard-Hit%
Brooks Lee (2025)	31.3	5.1	18.3	40.0
Jose Miranda (Career)	34.3	5.0	17.6	40.3

The similarity is clear: both players avoid strikeouts but expand the zone often, such that even though they're capable of making solid contact, it's rarely the most valuable kind. The difference is that Lee’s chase rate suggests more potential for adjustment, whereas Miranda has struggled to show that patience. As a switch-hitter, Lee also has a wired-in advantage when it comes to plate discipline.

The Path Forward
The encouraging part for Lee and the Twins is that his swing decisions are not set in stone. Unlike Miranda, whose free-swinging nature has never truly adjusted at the big-league level, Lee still has the developmental runway to refine his approach. The tools are there, and the Twins believe in his ceiling.

“I think I just have to be smart [about] picking and choosing my times to take that A-plus swing,” Lee said after his recent grand slam. “Other than that, I’m the type of player to put the ball in play. Supposed to be gap-to-gap and outrunning the balls. But it’s more important for me to get the next guy up.”

For Lee, the next step is learning to control the zone. It’s not enough to avoid strikeouts; he needs to identify and punish pitches he can drive. That means laying off borderline offerings and staying patient enough to hunt “his” pitch. If he can shift his profile from a hitter who can put anything in play to one who makes selective, damaging contact, the Twins will have a cornerstone infielder.

The Twins have seen this story before. Miranda’s bat-to-ball ability looked like a weapon until it became a liability, and he fell out of the team’s long-term plans. Lee now stands at that same crossroads. The difference between a productive, middle-of-the-order hitter and a frustrating contact-first infielder will come down to Lee’s ability to say “no” at the plate.

If he can, he’ll be more than just another contact hitter. He’ll be the impact bat the Twins envisioned when they called his name on draft night.

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How can Lee avoid following Miranda’s path? Leave a comment and start the discussion. 

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[Patzky]

That's an interesting analysis, thanks. We have no shortage of failure to launch at the MLB level, Julien and the frozen bat, and these two fellas. It's interesting that you voted the switch hitting as an advantage.. bad habits are bad habits but giving two opportunities to break them (L-R) is an added cherry. 

 

Lee has run hot and cold this year. 

[nicksaviking]

These high contact guys hardly ever flame out league-wide; tons don't have a high ceiling, but most have a reasonable floor. Teaching a guy when NOT to swing has to be so much easier than teaching a guy how to make contact. I really think a lot of this is a Twins-specific instructional and educational issue at the MLB level.

[CRF]

Jose Miranda? Who the heck is that?

[P Meyer]

Bruh. More Brooks Lee criticism. Why? He is 4th on the team in BA. 2nd in ABs. 4th in HRs. 2nd in RBIs. Could he be better? Absolutely. Does that mean he is not currently one of the highest performing Twins on the current roster? Absolutely not. Is his playing time holding a better player back? Absolutely not. 

 

I know it's about content, and I applaud the contributors on this site, but it just seems like an odd target at this moment.

[FlyingFinn]

Past history of coaches kids - they almost always have a good idea of the strike zone and what to not swing at. I'm really surprised Lee has this issue. It must be solved. Similar to Miranda, these two are not beating out many ground balls to the infielders.

[P Meyer]

Maybe the point is just that Brooks Lee will need to get better to remain a fixture of the Twins future. I will just go with that. 

[Doctor Gast]

IMO. Miranda's bat-to-ball contact is not a problem. It's his injuries & present frustrations. So I'm not concerned with Lee's approach at all. I'm much more concerned with Julien's approach.

[mikelink45]

I am really tired of the Brooks Lee criticism.  On this team there is a lot of blame to go around.  The young Lee has not been our failed hitter - look to his right - Lewis and consider where he is.  Clemens is far less important but seems to be getting more of a pass because we expect so much of Lee. 

Lee is fourth on the team in hits, he is fifth in HRs, he is second in RBIs, 3rd in BA, fourth is OBP, and fourth in slugging among those with enough ABs to qualify.   He is also second in games played - a very important stat for a team that has so many injured.

Give him some time and find a different topic for this kind of essay. 

[Nshore]

I'm still optimistic about Lee.  He doesn't have the greatest agility, but the Twins knew that when they drafted him.  Cal Ripken wasn't exactly Ozzie Smith, but he did alright.  Lee looks very smooth at SS, and will get better as a hitter.

As for Miranda, he suffered a very serious HBP to the helmet just as he seemed to be taking off as a hitter.  It seems to have effected him ever since.  These incidents still seem to be viewed more from a 1950's perspective than a modern view in a lot of cases.

 

 

 

 

[RaoulDuke]

Miranda that can play short is a good comparison for him.  That bat profile can stick at there but becomes an issue once he gets pushed to the corners.

The thing is he is going to get pushed off because of his speed.  Having to pinch run for your shortstop is not a great player profile, especially for a team that is trying to get faster and more athletic.   

He will get a better runway than Miranda because he can play short until Culpepper or Houston or whomever shows up to claim the spot.  Hopefully he can figure out how to hit enough to fill a corner or 2nd or he will be a utility guy.

[LA Vikes Fan]

I disagree, I think this is the time to talk abut Lee and what he can be because of where the team is right now.  The lineup is undergoing a core shuffle. We need to find out who can be part of a contending core in the next year or two, including whether Lee, Lewis, Keaschall, Martin, Wallner, and Larnach can be part of that core. If Lee can be a future everyday SS that gives us options with Culpeper and others and frees us up form having to find one. If Lee can hit but is too slow to be an above average fielder at SS, can he hit enough to be Lewis' replacement at 3B with Culpepper at SS? Same questions about Lewis. It looks like he's improved and can field the position but will he ever hit again? Getting data on these questions is what this year is all about now and this article is some of that data. How Lee ranks on this year's team leaderboard  on the team is interesting but not very meaningful as bad as this lineup is. We need to know how he ranks versus quality players on contending teams. We need to know if he can be a no. 5 or 6 hitter who plays an above average SS on a good team. If not, we need to try somebody else like Culpepper. 

I hear you on Clemens but I don't think he's getting a pass, I think we aren't talking about him much because we already know the answer.  He is not an every day MLB player because he can't hit well enough. A .208/.292 BA/OBP is not going to cut it, not even close. Even worse, both measures are going down the more he plays, not up. Add to that the fact he's already 29 and he isn't part of next year's MLB roster other than maybe as a 25th or 26th man on the bench and can't be played against LH pitching.  I frankly would sit him and play Julien at 1B every day for the rest of 2025. He very well may be the same thing or even worse, but he did have MLB success in 2023 so let's find out if that can come back and whether we want him back in 2026.

The rest of this year is all about evaluation and projection. All of the position players except Buxton and Jeffers need to be evaluated and hard decisions need to be made. 

 

[RpR]

Brooks - Randy Bush - Lee, although he should be at 3rd, NOT Short Stop.

[nicksaviking]

1 hour ago, P Meyer said:

Bruh. More Brooks Lee criticism. Why? He is 4th on the team in BA. 2nd in ABs. 4th in HRs. 2nd in RBIs. Could he be better? Absolutely. Does that mean he is not currently one of the highest performing Twins on the current roster? Absolutely not. Is his playing time holding a better player back? Absolutely not. 

 

I know it's about content, and I applaud the contributors on this site, but it just seems like an odd target at this moment.

His calling card was supposed to be his high contact rate and elite on base skills. Meanwhile he has a !!!.288!!! OBP. This is 100% a legit concern and article worthy.

[Patzky]

1 hour ago, CRF said:

Jose Miranda? Who the heck is that?

One got uniform no. 64 and the other got 2. 

Self fulfillment..

[In My La Z boy]

46 minutes ago, mikelink45 said:

I am really tired of the Brooks Lee criticism.  On this team there is a lot of blame to go around.  The young Lee has not been our failed hitter - look to his right - Lewis and consider where he is.  Clemens is far less important but seems to be getting more of a pass because we expect so much of Lee. 

Lee is fourth on the team in hits, he is fifth in HRs, he is second in RBIs, 3rd in BA, fourth is OBP, and fourth in slugging among those with enough ABs to qualify.   He is also second in games played - a very important stat for a team that has so many injured.

Give him some time and find a different topic for this kind of essay. 

Smart kid and a coaches kid. I like his prospects a lot. This is the type of player that figures things out. If Culpepper's raw athleticism overtakes him at SS, he'll be a great 2B. Keaschall is destined for somewhere else when his arm is back to full strength anyway. 

[NYCTK]

1 hour ago, FlyingFinn said:

Past history of coaches kids

 

10 minutes ago, In My La Z boy said:

Smart kid and a coaches kid.

 

I really don't know how the lore of him being a coach's son became at all a thing. That's as relevant as my work experience during the summers while in college. 

It's not Cal Poly is even that great a program. They've won a middling conference once. 

[Rod Carews Birthday]

I guess I’m in the minority, but I think that this is exactly the kind of article that needs to be written about Brooks Lee — one with some analysis that can help us understand what his issues are.  If Brooks Lee can’t figure out how to be an above average hitter it puts pressure on him to be an Andrelton Simmons type defender — which is really hard for a guy who is as slow as he is.  

I’ve long been amazed at the love for Brooks Lee. The hype has been out of control since we drafted him.  When he was drafted we were told that he didn’t have as high a ceiling as others in his draft class but that he was as close to a sure thing as there could be because he had such a high floor.  Well. . . . his floor seems to be below average major league hitter with very below average foot speed.  In my world, Brooks Lee needs to get the bat going sooner, not later.  At this point, Eddie Julien’s career numbers are substantially better than Brooks Lee’s career numbers (OPS+76 for Lee vs. 98 for Julien).  

[In My La Z boy]

49 minutes ago, NYCTK said:

 

 

I really don't know how the lore of him being a coach's son became at all a thing. That's as relevant as my work experience during the summers while in college. 

It's not Cal Poly is even that great a program. They've won a middling conference once. 

Often times a good athlete struggles to get over the hurdle because he's not that bright and he isn't passionate about the film and prep work. (Think Miranda) I want high IQ players. You usually get a high IQ athlete when you get a coaches kid, and you usually get a "student of the game". I am talking philosophy and game IQ and speaking in generalities. There is a point here you are summarily dismissing is my point.

[P Meyer]

51 minutes ago, nicksaviking said:

His calling card was supposed to be his high contact rate and elite on base skills. Meanwhile he has a !!!.288!!! OBP. This is 100% a legit concern and article worthy.

Maybe. 

 

Brooks Lee is having a comparable hitting season to Mookie Betts this year, 

 

He has the same number of HRs as Trea Turner.

 

His .390 slug % is on par with Willy Adames (.392) and Xander Bogaerts(.392). 

 

He is 24. The same age as Ezequiel Tovar but with 535 career at bats vs 1499. Volpe is also 24 and has 1616 career at bats. 

 

At just over 600 at bats, Tovar had a worse OBP and similar slug% and OPS. Volpe was worse in all 3 when he was at 541 at bats.

 

Dude needs some time before he gets disected.

 

[thelanges5]

Nice take. Just because you can get your bat to all the balls doesn’t mean you should. Seems like Lee’s head is in the right space and he’s working on pitch recognition and being more selective. Not sure where he ends up defensively but I like him as a Twin. 

[P Meyer]

CJ Abrams in his first 847 at bats put up very similar numbers in OBP, SLG and OPS as Brooks Lee has put up this season. 

[NYCTK]

3 minutes ago, In My La Z boy said:

Often times a good athlete struggles to get over the hurdle because he's not that bright and he isn't passionate about the film and prep work. (Think Miranda) I want high IQ players. You usually get a high IQ athlete when you get a coaches kid, and you usually get a "student of the game". I am talking philosophy and game IQ and speaking in generalities. There is a point here you are summarily dismissing is my point.

You are right, I am dismissing it, because it's nothing but a baseless theory. 

BTW, the Pohalds are descendents of an, admittedly, very successful businessman. Does that mean we should expect greatness from them? They have that inherent Business IQ after all. 

[In My La Z boy]

3 minutes ago, NYCTK said:

You are right, I am dismissing it, because it's nothing but a baseless theory. 

BTW, the Pohalds are descendents of an, admittedly, very successful businessman. Does that mean we should expect greatness from them? They have that inherent Business IQ after all. 

Now you are conflating rich kids with coaches kids. Carl Pohlad was a banker not a coach. I made an obvious point. You are being argumentative as young people like to do these days. Good luck young man 👍 

[NYCTK]

1 minute ago, In My La Z boy said:

Now you are conflating rich kids with coaches kids. Carl Pohlad was a banker not a coach. I made an obvious point. You are being argumentative as young people like to do these days. Good luck young man 👍 

In my mind, a coach's son is no less likely to be a spoiled idiot lacking work ethic or industry specific IQ than anyone else. 

And this is pretty obvious to anyone that's played with a coach's son, or done business with the boss's son. 

So, yeah, I really, truly don't care about his dad's profession. Nor should anyone else. 

[Greglw3]

3 hours ago, P Meyer said:

Bruh. More Brooks Lee criticism. Why? He is 4th on the team in BA. 2nd in ABs. 4th in HRs. 2nd in RBIs. Could he be better? Absolutely. Does that mean he is not currently one of the highest performing Twins on the current roster? Absolutely not. Is his playing time holding a better player back? Absolutely not. 

 

I know it's about content, and I applaud the contributors on this site, but it just seems like an odd target at this moment.

Yes, I think Brooks Lee leads Matt Wallner 52-28 in RBIs! That is very significant on both sides.

Lee does have a problem occasionally chasing pitcher’s pitches and I think it’s probably related to the adrenaline rush he gets when he hits a home run. That’s Lee’s assignment. Spray the ball around and hit maybe 16-20 HR and play great SS.

As Bob Casey would say, "Chasing is not permitted at Target Field. Nooooo CHASING!" Just keep growing.

Wallner is closer to the Miranda black hole in space, IMO. His approach is awful and the occasional bomb not worth all the strikeouts. Cody Clemens is another one, the HR are not worth the low batting average.

The Twins have made an art of concocting inept offenses with myriad low batting averages for too many years now. I think by their trades and guys like Jenkins, Culpepper, Gonzalez they may have seen the light.

[LA Vikes Fan]

4 minutes ago, Bigfork Twins Guy said:

One caveat... some of these rankings on the team would be lower if Correa, Bader, and Castro were still on the team.  That said, I agree with most posters that he needs to be given more time.  Kelly always said 1,000 PA's and he is around half way there.

I would normally agree with you but I think there's a big caveat here with Lee. He already has 570 PAs and should be at around 700 by the end of the year, assuming he plays basically every day the rest of the season. He has probably of the second-most exciting position player prospect in the organization nipping at his heels in Kaelon Culpeper. Culpeper will be ready for the majors if he stays on his current trajectory by no later than mid season next year. By then, Lee will have his 1000 PAs. Frankly, Culpeper should get some major league ABs this year. The team needs to know whether Lee will be the shortstop or not by no later than the middle of next season, preferably by the end of this season so they can switch Culpeper to the outfield or to third base in place of Lewis. We can't just sit around and wait on him.

Having said all that, I'm actually cautiously optimistic on Lee. His bat seems to be better when he plays shortstop every day and I'm guessing his fielding metrics at shortstop are roughly average or slightly below. Those metrics could improve with an off-season of flexibility and agility training and maybe get him to a solid slightly above average fielder at short. If he can do that and be even a .265/.325/.400 hitter, we have a solid major league shortstop for the foreseeable future. He is neither of those things yet but he potentially could be and that's what we need to find out.

[jmlease1]

47 minutes ago, Greglw3 said:

Yes, I think Brooks Lee leads Matt Wallner 52-28 in RBIs! That is very significant on both sides.

Lee does have a problem occasionally chasing pitcher’s pitches and I think it’s probably related to the adrenaline rush he gets when he hits a home run. That’s Lee’s assignment. Spray the ball around and hit maybe 16-20 HR and play great SS.

As Bob Casey would say, "Chasing is not permitted at Target Field. Nooooo CHASING!" Just keep growing.

Wallner is closer to the Miranda black hole in space, IMO. His approach is awful and the occasional bomb not worth all the strikeouts. Cody Clemens is another one, the HR are not worth the low batting average.

The Twins have made an art of concocting inept offenses with myriad low batting averages for too many years now. I think by their trades and guys like Jenkins, Culpepper, Gonzalez they may have seen the light.

Hilarious. Wallner has an OPS+ of 116 in a down season for him (His career OPS+ is 131). Brooks Lee has an OPS+ of 82.

Wallner is nowhere near Miranda as a black hole, but they're also completely different hitters. Miranda had lost all inklings of power last time he was up so his plate coverage generated nothing but weak contact. It's why this article is appropriate, because right now Lee has been generating too much weak contact especially when he chases.

For Lee to be a successful hitter he needs to find a renewed plate discipline and stop swinging at everything. An OBP under .300 will simply not do. Lee has been very very streaky this season. Started the year looking good, then had a dreadful May. Bounced back for a very nice June...and followed that up with a horrific July. August hasn't exactly been good, but he's shown some signs of life in the past 2 weeks.

In the minors Lee showed very good contact skills, decent pop, and acceptable patience. In MLB, the contact skills haven't been producing hits, because he's chasing pitches he can't do much with. His patience has been reduced and the pop has been very inconsistent

[bunsen82]

Say what you will,  he has a +.5 WAR since the trade deadline (-.7, now at -.2).   All he needs to do is continue to provide solid defense which he is,  continue to walk more which he has been doing and then taking advantage of the mistakes.  The increased power is drastically changing his profile.  A .260/.340/.400 shortstop with good to adequate defense that can also become a utility player is a very valuable commodity.  Lee continues to evolve,  there is no reason to  not to continue to let him develop.  

[Rod Carews Birthday]

2 hours ago, P Meyer said:

Maybe. 

 

Brooks Lee is having a comparable hitting season to Mookie Betts this year, 

 

He has the same number of HRs as Trea Turner.

 

His .390 slug % is on par with Willy Adames (.392) and Xander Bogaerts(.392). 

 

He is 24. The same age as Ezequiel Tovar but with 535 career at bats vs 1499. Volpe is also 24 and has 1616 career at bats. 

 

At just over 600 at bats, Tovar had a worse OBP and similar slug% and OPS. Volpe was worse in all 3 when he was at 541 at bats.

 

Dude needs some time before he gets disected.

 

 So you’re saying that his numbers compare well with the worst numbers of a bunch of guys who are having terrible seasons?  You’re correct.  He only has 500+ at bats, but this should be the time when he figures it out.  While he is a better defensive player, in what way is he a better offensive player than Eddie Julien?