The Twins Need a Better Brooks Lee. Is That Possible?

[Matthew Trueblood]

Image courtesy of © Peter Aiken-Imagn Images

There's not a shortage of comps for Brooks Lee's swing. From the left side and from the right, he has roughly 35th-percentile bat speed and a slightly flatter swing plane than the average hitter. Over 60 big-league hitters met those basic criteria last season, from one or both sides of the plate. What's difficult is finding players who swing that way, and are good.

Such creatures do exist. I limited a search to the 200 players with the slowest swings (among those with at leat 100 competitive swings from one side of the plate) and looked for those with swing planes as flat as Lee's or flatter, using Baseball Savant's bat tracking data. José Ramírez fits the criteria, from the left side. So does Jose Altuve. So do Brendan Donovan, Sal Frelick and Caleb Durbin. Reds sparkplug TJ Friedl and high-average speedster Xavier Edwards are on the list. You can see the pattern. You can probably also see the problem.

Last season, Friedl was an above-average hitter, but it was largely due to his 11.8% walk rate and 16 times being hit by pitches. Durbin, too, relied on getting hit by pitches a lot. More importantly, though, all of these guys have good plate discipline, and/or are much better athletes than Lee. In fact, almost the entire list of hitters whose swing speeds and tilt match his are defense-first guys, like Johan Rojas of the Phillies; Nick Allen, now of Houston; DaShawn Keirsey Jr.; and Christian Vázquez. The guys who succeed with swings like the one Lee deploys from each side are hand-eye coordination freaks, have superb approaches, use their legs to beat defenses, or fit all of those descriptors. 

By contrast, Lee is a below-average baseball athlete. He's stretched at shortstop, and having him play it for a full season in 2026 is likely to both make the Twins' infield more porous and wear him down at the plate. He doesn't throw or run well. Worse, he's not good at controlling the strike zone. He chases pitches outside the zone more than an average batter, and doesn't make much contact when he does. Within the zone, he makes a lot of contact, but it's not optimized. In his first full season in the majors, he hit more balls on the ground and pulled fewer of his flies than in his 2024 stint. 

What Lee does well is square up the ball, but he gives up too much bat speed to do it, and because his swings are both fairly inefficient, he also has to decide early in order to get the barrel to the hitting zone on time. That leads to too many poor swing decisions for a player whose swing itself can't drive his offensive profile. He needs to make big changes, to increase his bat speed, trading some contact within the zone for more power; and to his approach, to reduce the frequency of bad contact and pitcher-friendly counts. 

All of that is still at least vaguely possible, because even though he was supposed to be a polished collegiate hitter when the Twins took him in 2022, he's still just 24 years old. He could turn a corner, with a better plan and enough openness to what the Twins recommend to him. Right now, though, it's unfair to expect him to be good in 2026. He batted .236/.285/.370 in 2025, and because real and important weaknesses underpinned that line, we should expect about the same this year, until we see evidence of the major changes he needs to make.

Can a team contend for the postseason with a shortstop who posts a .655 OPS? Of course. Any one player on a roster can be (more or less) made up for by another. The Twins don't have the depth to make it very likely that they stay in the race without a breakout from Lee, though. He's not a good defender, and he plays one of the three most important defensive positions on the diamond. Big-league teams aren't chains; they can survive a weak spot in a way a chain can't survive a weak link. Lee is a marked weakness for this team, though, and right now, they haven't surrounded him with enough strength to hide that weakness. They don't have good defenders flanking him on the infield; they don't have the lineup depth to let him hit ninth and forget about him. They need the best version of Lee, which means a major set of physical and mental adjustments and some good luck in the health department. Otherwise, they'll need to pin their hopes on Kaelen Culpepper—but he won't be ready for the majors soon enough to save this season if Lee imperils it.

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[AceWrigley]

Can Royce Lewis play shorstop well enough?

[DJL44]

9 minutes ago, AceWrigley said:

Can Royce Lewis play shorstop well enough?

Maybe, but who plays third if Royce moves to SS?

 

[Parfigliano]

Article makes me wonder why Lee was a 1st round draft choice.

[DataNerd]

It's reasonable to expect that a 25yr will make improvements from his 24yr season.  I'm also not going to worry about a guy's swing plane if one of the comps is Jose Ramirez.  Could just be better plate discipline away from being an average hitter.  If not, he might just be a utility guy.

[AceWrigley]

5 minutes ago, DJL44 said:

Maybe, but who plays third if Royce moves to SS?

 

Eugenio Suarez . . . ha ha ha ha ha!

[DJL44]

I agree that it is strange to try to "contend" with the worst starting SS in the league. The Twins might end up with the worst defense in baseball. Only Lewis and Buxton project as even average defenders.

[bunsen82]

Twinsdaily needs better writers,  is it possible . . .   I kid, I kid

As to can they get a better version of Lee absolutely.  What needs to occur - He used to have a great eye at the plate,  In my opinion pitchers are now making Lee expand the strike zone.   Effectively he is swinging at more bad pitches and ultimately putting up more weak contact - due to still being a good contact hitter.   So laying off the outside pitch, the high pitch or the low pitch,  if he continues a pretty high contact rate with a slightly faster swing,  he could easily result in not only a much higher batting average or OBP  but more damage on the hits resulting in a higher OPS.   Its the same issue that Arraez is having.   Ultimately Lee needs to develop the eye further to get more walks.     

2024  .221/.265/.320

2025  .236/.285/.370

2026  .248/.299/.390     1.6 WAR  FDGC -  .252.306/.405 (steamer)   1.6 WAR  

 

Thats not outside the realm of possibility at all.   I would gladly take those numbers and think they would be possible.  i could also see his OBP being closer to .310 if he can increase the walk rate.    

[Blyleven2011]

1 hour ago, AceWrigley said:

Can Royce Lewis play shorstop well enough?

Probably just as well if not better , he filled in for Correa back in 2023 and did a commendable job ...

Now is he the same player now , they say he lost some steps in his speed due to his lower body injuries  ...

I'd be willing to switch Lee to third and Lewis to SS , wouldn't hurt to try it out and see if it makes our team better  ...

[tony&rodney]

Jordan Lawler has not done well in the few opportunities he has had with Arizona. There isn't anywhere for Lawler to play. The Twins should be able to pick up Lawler for a minimal price. I'm not sure what the Diamondbacks would require. A few guesses - one of Martin, Roden, Festa, or someone like Charlee Soto. Maybe Larnach and a guy like C. J. Culpepper.  A deal for Lawler would be a gamble, but the upside could be high. Lawler cannot play third base but is a very good shortstop. Arizona has Ketel Marte at 2B, Geraldo Perdomo at SS, Nolan Arenado at 3B, Blaze Alexander as a utility infielder, and a handful of top infield prospects. Lawler could work at SS and 2B as well as step into the outfield if needed. The sole point of acquiring Lawler would be to hope that a change of scenery and an opportunity to get some playing time would boost him towards his former lofty prospect status. 

Brooks Lee might play a decent shortstop and hit a bit but he sure has looked more like a utility player, which is something the Twins need in their infield. I think the Twins believe Lee just needs time to be an All Star. That sounds good to me, just not realistic although i hope they are correct.

[Blyleven2011]

1 hour ago, Parfigliano said:

Article makes me wonder why Lee was a 1st round draft choice.

I still think Lee at 24 will mature from his previous 2 years in MLB and become a better hitter , not ready to give up on the bat , SS he's not but you got to tell our organization that he's not a starter there , utility or emergency yes ...

[tarheeltwinsfan]

1 hour ago, DJL44 said:

Maybe, but who plays third if Royce moves to SS?

 

Lee

[AceWrigley]

46 minutes ago, Blyleven2011 said:

Probably just as well if not better , he filled in for Correa back in 2023 and did a commendable job ...

Now is he the same player now , they say he lost some steps in his speed due to his lower body injuries  ...

I'd be willing to switch Lee to third and Lewis to SS , wouldn't hurt to try it out and see if it makes our team better  ...

I was thinking the same thing but didn't say it. The reason it seems plausible is the way Lewis was moving around the last 2 months of 2025; he looked faster and more agile. Lee played pretty good defense at 3B when he played there before, and maybe the reduced defensive stress would help him offensively, but thats a guess on my part.

[arby58]

1 hour ago, tony&rodney said:

Jordan Lawler has not done well in the few opportunities he has had with Arizona. There isn't anywhere for Lawler to play. The Twins should be able to pick up Lawler for a minimal price. I'm not sure what the Diamondbacks would require. A few guesses - one of Martin, Roden, Festa, or someone like Charlee Soto. Maybe Larnach and a guy like C. J. Culpepper.  A deal for Lawler would be a gamble, but the upside could be high. Lawler cannot play third base but is a very good shortstop. Arizona has Ketel Marte at 2B, Geraldo Perdomo at SS, Nolan Arenado at 3B, Blaze Alexander as a utility infielder, and a handful of top infield prospects. Lawler could work at SS and 2B as well as step into the outfield if needed. The sole point of acquiring Lawler would be to hope that a change of scenery and an opportunity to get some playing time would boost him towards his former lofty prospect status. 

Brooks Lee might play a decent shortstop and hit a bit but he sure has looked more like a utility player, which is something the Twins need in their infield. I think the Twins believe Lee just needs time to be an All Star. That sounds good to me, just not realistic although i hope they are correct.

While the idea has merit, you are overvaluing Lawler, at least according to the Baseball Trade Values Trade Simulator. They give Lawler a surplus value of 3.6.

Here are the surplus trade values for the Twins players you mentioned:

Martin:  9.6
Roden:  9.4
Festa:  11.5
Soto:  10.8
Culpepper: 4.2 (you're at least in the ballpark with him alone)
Larnach: 2.0 (yeah, that's the corner outfielder the Twins picked up a $4+ million option for). Sigh.

[Old Twins Hat]

Yeah well, if the ceiling for Lee is Jose Ramirez, we will take it.

But, you know what:  Every single one of the Twins young core needs to play better.  Every. Single. One.

If they don't, then we don't have a credible young core and, at some point, Twins will need to start again on a young core.

Hopefully, some of the young core take steps forward.  That's it.  We need players to play well.

And I hope they do.

[DJL44]

2 hours ago, bunsen82 said:

2024  .221/.265/.320

2025  .236/.285/.370

2026  .248/.299/.390     1.6 WAR  FDGC -  .252.306/.405 (steamer)   1.6 WAR    

I don't understand how adding 12 points of batting average is going to improve Lee's WAR by 2.5. He was a -0.8 WAR player with that batting line last year. His defense is unlikely to improve because he is limited by his athleticism. 

[tony&rodney]

22 hours ago, arby58 said:

While the idea has merit, you are overvaluing Lawler, at least according to the Baseball Trade Values Trade Simulator. They give Lawler a surplus value of 3.6.

Here are the surplus trade values for the Twins players you mentioned:

Martin:  9.6
Roden:  9.4
Festa:  11.5
Soto:  10.8
Culpepper: 4.2 (you're at least in the ballpark with him alone)
Larnach: 2.0 (yeah, that's the corner outfielder the Twins picked up a $4+ million option for). Sigh.

Sure. The idea is that the Twins need to search for something. C. J. and Trevor works? Great. Why not? 

Edit to add: Jordan Lawler had a BBTV of around 24.5 on January 16. What happened?

Think Lawler would be a smart acquisition, one worth a gamble.

[DJL44]

The MLB is listing it's top 10 players by position and it is striking how few Twins will be on the lists. Only Joe Ryan #73 and Byron Buxton #42 made their top 100 players list. They aren't going to win anything by surrounding two good players with below average players everywhere else.

[big dog]

3 hours ago, Parfigliano said:

Article makes me wonder why Lee was a 1st round draft choice.

Yeah, and it made me wonder why he was a consensus top-8 or so pick? At least that’s how I remember it. Not just a first rounder, but one expected to go early in that round. 

[HerbieFan]

I wonder what the over/under on Orlando Arcia starts at SS is??

[USAFChief]

16 minutes ago, HerbieFan said:

I wonder what the over/under on Orlando Arcia starts at SS is??

I'll put it at 60.5. And take the over.

[GNess]

22 minutes ago, DJL44 said:

The MLB is listing it's top 10 players by position and it is striking how few Twins will be on the lists. Only Joe Ryan #73 and Byron Buxton #42 made their top 100 players list. They aren't going to win anything by surrounding two good players with below average players everywhere else.

Pretty basic - teams need a handful of good (above average) players to expect to be a good (contending) team.

For the 2026 Twins the possible candidates to evolve into good players at their positions on the expected. roster are: Keaschall, Lewis and perhaps Jeffers. Lee, Larnach, Martin and Wallner are more long shots.

Maybe one of the highly regarded players in the minors such as Jenkins, Culpepper, Gonzalez or Rodriguez will get called up and produce at a high level?

[bean5302]

It's necessary to break out Brooks Lee as a left handed hitter and as a right handed hitter.

Career lines
RHB = .218/.274/.351 OPS .625 wRC+ 72. ISO .134, 7.1% BB, 15.1% K. .231 BABIP
LHB = .261/.291/.367 OPS .658 wRC+ 82. ISO .106, 3.5% BB, 20.0% K .304 BABIP

As a lefty, Lee is a slap singles ground ball hitter with no control of the strike zone. As a righty, Lee has a better grasp of the strike zone, and he becomes a dead pull hitter with a better ratio of fly balls and a little more pop. 

Both ways, he generates little in the way of hard contact, and he's a pretty easy strikeout of pitchers stay inside and low from either side of the plate, but even if they leave pitches out over the plate when Lee is batting left, he's not going to do any damage even if he does make contact.

He's the last couple years' version of Luis Arraez, but with 3-4x the K rate. His 2025 approach and results looked pretty much just like his 2024 debut.

There have probably been about 5 articles about Brooks Lee and whether or not he can improve over the offseason. I think Lee's ceiling is probably a close to league average bat. Maybe .260/.310/.410 OPS .720-ish type of hitter at best?

I will say the Twins have shown a remarkable level of patience with Lee. Dramatically more than any other young player I can recall recently.

[Cris E]

I'd love Lawler but I think for his pedigree and potential they'd want more than the scraps you suggest. That said, I'd give them a decent arm for a decent SS candidate, and I'd do it tonight. 

[weitz41]

I find it hard to give a lot of weight to his numbers from the 2025 season. 1st he wasn't the starting SS until Correa was traded. Second the only position player that didn't look like a failed prospect was Keaschall. Lee, Lewis, Wallner, Julien and Maranda could have the same article written about them. More of less copy, replace name and paste. Keaschall is a rough 100 games from getting one of these articles himself...

I'd save this sort of article for when he or they have 1000-1500 Ab and 300-400 games played.

But that would mean more trade X for Z and those of late have been getting a 9/1 negative response. So maybe it's just writer reaction to the mood on this site.

[dxpavelka]

To answer the question in the headline:  Of course it's NOT possible.  We, this site and the fans that follow it are Twins fans.  We come to the breakfast table every morning convinced that someone pissed in out cereal.  In fact, if no one did, we do it ourselves.  So, obviously, there is no way he can become anything close to the player envisioned when we drafted him.  

[Craig Arko]

13 hours ago, DataNerd said:

It's reasonable to expect that a 25yr will make improvements from his 24yr season.  I'm also not going to worry about a guy's swing plane if one of the comps is Jose Ramirez.  Could just be better plate discipline away from being an average hitter.  If not, he might just be a utility guy.

You know who did just that? Roy Smalley. 

[MinnInPa]

knock it off w all the analytics... the kid is 24 ... very good ball player.. lets see how the next couple years pan out...and then maybe Culpepper is the answer

[Otaknam]

With all the analytical tools available, how was Lee viewed as a polished college hitter, but now has so many flaws in his approach: slow bat, flat plane, not good at controlling the strike zone, slow foot speed, “chases pitches outside the zone more than an average batter, and doesn't make much contact when he does.” And his primary hitting asset is that he can barrel the bat on the ball, so he will hit some homers. This is a systemic failure of the scouting staff to overrate Lee. That said, Lee can add strength to improve his swing speed, and maybe even improve his foot speed. He will hopefully be bypassed by Culpepper this season, rendering Lee as a utility infielder. That would be a good start to improving this team.

[miracleb]

14 hours ago, DJL44 said:

I agree that it is strange to try to "contend" with the worst starting SS in the league. The Twins might end up with the worst defense in baseball. Only Lewis and Buxton project as even average defenders.

Bell at 1st base should help fix..........errr.........never mind.