Offseason Adjustments: How Brooks Lee Plans to Break Out at the Plate

[Cody Schoenmann]

In his first two seasons in Major League Baseball, Brooks Lee has hit .232/.279/.357 with 19 home runs and a 75 wRC+ over 712 combined plate appearances. Performing 25% below league-average, Lee has struggled to reach base, often chasing pitches outside the zone, leading to weak contact and a high whiff rate. The 25-year-old has generated plus power last season while consistently netting a low strikeout rate. However, his poor swing decisions have led to him entering his third season at an early-career crossroads, straining to prove he belongs in the majors.

 

Minnesota is anticipated to hand him ample opportunity to accomplish that, with him penciled in as the club’s Opening Day starting shortstop.  Yet, with ascending shortstop prospect Kaelen Culpepper expected to begin his 2026 campaign at Triple-A and 2025 first-round draft pick Marek Houston not too far behind them, time is running thin. What did Lee do in an effort to break out at the plate in 2026, staving off Culpepper and Houston? Let’s take a look.

 

Drafted as a switch-hitter, Lee had always performed better from the left side, evidenced by his time at Cal Poly and in the minors. Unfortunately, that trend failed to continue with the parent club, with him posting a 68 wRC+ over a combined 482 plate appearances from the left side of the plate the past two seasons, compared to a 77 wRC+ over 230 combined plate appearances hitting right-handed. Obviously, both results are undesirable, resulting in the former top prospect performing at below replacement level rate over his young career. That being the case, he prioritized improving as a hitter from the left side while keeping his right-handed swing stable this offseason.

 

“(I’m) just trying to find one swing that I could stick with left-handed, not make so many adjustments,” Lee confessed. “I felt like this offseason, I made the least amount of adjustments. Didn’t look at video that much. I felt good just trying to hit the ball the other way more. I didn’t really do that last year, left-handed. I feel like, right-handed, I did. I got a lot more hits, and so, yeah, that was kind of a big focus. See the ball deeper so I could hit it that way. And I think that’ll help with chasing.”

 

Lee dramatically altered his intercept point from the left side of the plate between his first two seasons, standing 5.1 inches from the plate in 2024 to 2.0 inches in 2025. His adjustment resulted in him increasing his bat speed by a tick. Yet, as noted earlier, his adjustment didn’t yield a meaningful improvement in results. Interestingly, Lee stood 6.4 inches from the plate, hitting right-handed last season, a stark contrast from his approach from the left side. Given Lee’s comfort in his swing from the right side and desire to improve from the left, he could decide to again stand further from the plate from the left side, in an attempt to mirror his approach from the right side. Whether that would produce better results is in question, given that he still struggled from the left side while standing further back in 2024.

 

There is no evidence to suggest that Lee will actually do that. Yet, if he (in collaboration with new hitting coach Keith Beauregard) believes seeing the ball deeper would improve his chase rate, intercepting the ball further from the plate would be a sound adjustment to make. Lee has also always hit fastballs well, meaning he could sacrifice some plate coverage to see breaking and offspeed pitches further. If he can continue mashing fastballs from both sides of the plate while chasing offspeed and breaking pitches less, Lee could become the self-actualized switch-hitter  Twins Territory has yearned for him to become since his electric 2024 debut, while producing 20+ home run power.

 

If Lee undergoes modest improvement early next season, he could still be usurped by Culpepper, effectively ending his chances of becoming the club’s long-term shortstop. Still, a long-term role as a utility infielder who could bounce between second base, third, and short (and maybe potentially first base) is still in the cards with Lee. At the same time, a very disheartening reality exists: Lee could be demoted to Triple-A if his early-career struggles continue in 2026. He has reached an early-career crossroads, and his ability to improve as a left-handed hitter will be the deciding factor in his ability to remain in the majors.

 

Twins Daily's John Bonnes contributed to the reporting in this piece.

View full article

[arby58]

Hope springs eternal, but Lee is working with a limited skill set, given his below average defense and speed.  Unless he can up his OBP and maintain 20 HR power, he has little future as an everyday player in MLB.

[mickster]

30 minutes ago, arby58 said:

Hope springs eternal, but Lee is working with a limited skill set, given his below average defense and speed.  Unless he can up his OBP and maintain 20 HR power, he has little future as an everyday player in MLB.

A prime example of a highly touted prospect that should have been used to deal a couple of years ago at the deadline when we were pushing towards the playoffs

[TJSweens]

Lee is a placeholder at SS. Defensively, he just doesn't have the goods. The things Lee needs to improve can't be taught or refined. The best realistic outcome is that Lee figures things out at the plate while the Twins figure out where he will play long term.

[Parfigliano]

1 hour ago, arby58 said:

Hope springs eternal, but Lee is working with a limited skill set, given his below average defense and speed.  Unless he can up his OBP and maintain 20 HR power, he has little future as an everyday player in MLB.

Not every player is a 20 HR power guy.  Someday TC might stop trying to make every player into one.

[SF Twins Fan]

He's only had slightly more than 700 plate appearances in the MLB.  1,000 PA's is usually the standard for knowing what a player will be in his career.  I don't think he's going to be an all-star, but if he can improve his plate discipline, that should lead to better / harder contact.

Can he improve enough to be an everyday player, is he more of a utility player, or is he a below replacement player?  This will likely be the deciding year in his career. 

[arby58]

19 minutes ago, Parfigliano said:

Not every player is a 20 HR power guy.  Someday TC might stop trying to make every player into one.

Not every player is poor defensively and lacking speed. You have to be good at something.

[Patzky]

6 minutes ago, SF Twins Fan said:

He's only had slightly more than 700 plate appearances in the MLB.  1,000 PA's is usually the standard for knowing what a player will be in his career.  I don't think he's going to be an all-star, but if he can improve his plate discipline, that should lead to better / harder contact.

Can he improve enough to be an everyday player, is he more of a utility player, or is he a below replacement player?  This will likely be the deciding year in his career. 

It's time to move on from the news about Pablo and start writing about the precarious talent level on the rest of the team. Lee will have every opportunity. If he winds up as a slow Willi Castro, well .. he's cheaper.

[rdehring]

I don't see him being as bad defensively as many of you or the numbers, which I don't always understand.  I also don't see him ever being a top defender.  For that reason, I remain hopeful that his bat improves, and the Twins find a place where his defense plays.  

If Houston's glove is as exceptional many reports indicate, I want him as the Twins everyday shortstop.  Soon.  Don't care what he hits as long as his average starts with a 2!

[bean5302]

15 minutes ago, rdehring said:

I don't see him being as bad defensively as many of you or the numbers...

I watched him from Club Level on the 3rd base side as a season ticket holder in 2024. I watched him play last year as a non-season ticket holder. His defensive problems were glaring.

[bean5302]

Quote

...On the bright side, the 25-year-old generated plus power last season...

In WHAT WORLD does a .133 ISO represent plus power? Bottom quartile. Man, it's hard to take this kind of content seriously. Next thing you know, Austin Martin will be referred to as a slugger.

[jmlease1]

It will be interesting to see if Lee can evolve as a hitter and add a little range as a defender. I think the former is more likely than the latter, but if he's able to consistently field the balls played to him he'll probably be passable at SS for the season...if he starts to hit.

The good thing is reducing his chase rate would be pretty impactful for him and it's one of the skills that's reasonable to develop as you get more experienced. he doesn't need to clock 20 homers or hit .300 to be a useful hitter (though both would be lovely); he just need to stop chasing breaking pitches out of the zone and turning them into weak contact. Take a few more walks, wait for your pitch to turn on a ball, take good swings at strikes.

We'll see. It's a bit of a make or break season for Lee. I hope he makes it.

[Geno48]

2 hours ago, arby58 said:

Hope springs eternal, but Lee is working with a limited skill set, given his below average defense and speed.  Unless he can up his OBP and maintain 20 HR power, he has little future as an everyday player in MLB.

 

[Geno48]

We need  to remember that,  in spite of all the negatives happening with the Twins,  that we have new manager.    We can hope that Shelton comes through as an improvement over the clueless Baldelli!

[Rod Carews Birthday]

Without question, this season is make or break time for Brooks Lee.  When he was drafted, we heard all about his high floor and that he was practically MLB ready because of his great fundamentals and knowledge of the game.  The evaluators forgot one important thing, he was a player that had refined his talent into its best presentation and there wasn’t much room for him to continue to grow and progress.  In some ways he’s kind of like the great 8th grade basketball player who got his growth spurt a little before the rest of the kids his age.  He immediately becomes the best player, but if he doesn’t continue to improve, all of the other players catch up and surpass him.  This is where Brooks Lee is right now.  I hope he’s up to the task, but I’m not optimistic.

[Linus]

Hopefully he gets 500-600 ABs this season and we will find out. 

[Cody Schoenmann]

39 minutes ago, bean5302 said:

In WHAT WORLD does a .133 ISO represent plus power? Bottom quartile. Man, it's hard to take this kind of content seriously. Next thing you know, Austin Martin will be referred to as a slugger.

you're missing the forest for the trees. 16 home runs is impressive for a SS and there's a real chance he could hit 20+ home runs next season.

[NYCTK]

2 hours ago, mickster said:

A prime example of a highly touted prospect that should have been used to deal a couple of years ago at the deadline when we were pushing towards the playoffs

Yep. He could have brought back quite the impact arm or 1B. Max Scherzer or...Josh Bell! 

That trade deadline was the beginning of the collapse of this Twins era. Very sad. 

[mickster]

30 minutes ago, NYCTK said:

Yep. He could have brought back quite the impact arm or 1B. Max Scherzer or...Josh Bell! 

That trade deadline was the beginning of the collapse of this Twins era. Very sad. 

This years was yes.   I was referring to trading him back in 2022-2023

[Coach Wheels]

My thoughts would be this; we aren't winning anything for the foreseeable future so why give up the ship with this kid? Is our priority that he be a SS or an offensive threat? If he can't be both, does a position change make the team better? 

If we were close to competing I'd certainly understand his need to be a lot better a lot quicker. Since that is not the reality, let's continue to find out who he is and/or how he helps the organization

[NYCTK]

3 minutes ago, mickster said:

This years was yes.   I was referring to trading him back in 2022-2023

No, we're in agreement. I wanted to trade him at the 2023 trade deadline. And I'm not making fun of those players. Scherzer pitched 45 good innings and helped the Rangers win the World Series, and Josh Bell had a 114 OPS+, helping the Marlins make the playoffs. 

[LambchoP]

I think this is the year he needs to prove whether he can be a starting infielder or a utility guy, which is probably what's best. Hopefully Culpeper continues mashing and forces a call up.

[bean5302]

1 hour ago, Cody Schoenmann said:

you're missing the forest for the trees. 16 home runs is impressive for a SS and there's a real chance he could hit 20+ home runs next season.

So HRs are the forest, and 2B, 3B, and HR combined is the tree?

...and "demonstrated" is now in future tense?

...and demonstrated is not limited to "plus power" in general, but only plus power for one of the worst hitting positions in baseball.

...and ranking 15th of 26 qualified shortstops (42nd percentile) is still considered plus for the position (he's 48th percentile for HR:FB rate for SS)

I appreciate there is a little bit of hope left for Brooks Lee because maybe he could start swinging harder more often without losing out on his contact rates, and in theory, that could generate more home runs, but this is a case where you'd be better off just admitting you went off memory and hope rather than data.

 

[Cody Schoenmann]

15 minutes ago, bean5302 said:

So HRs are the forest, and 2B, 3B, and HR combined is the tree?

...and "demonstrated" is now in future tense?

...and demonstrated is not limited to "plus power" in general, but only plus power for one of the worst hitting positions in baseball.

...and ranking 15th of 26 qualified shortstops (42nd percentile) is still considered plus for the position (he's 48th percentile for HR:FB rate for SS)

I appreciate there is a little bit of hope left for Brooks Lee because maybe he could start swinging harder more often without losing out on his contact rates, and in theory, that could generate more home runs, but this is a case where you'd be better off just admitting you went off memory and hope rather than data.

 

no, you're right, i'm not going to pretend to disagree with you. to your point, though, i meant "plus power" relative to position. that claim was made more so off memory and projection than actual data. that said, his ISO is in the same ballpark as players like Mookie Betts and Gunnar Henderson. i think it would be appropriate to give him the "plus power" tag if he reaches the .145-.160 ISO range this season.

Edited February 18 by Cody Schoenmann

[LA Vikes Fan]

1 hour ago, Coach Wheels said:

My thoughts would be this; we aren't winning anything for the foreseeable future so why give up the ship with this kid? Is our priority that he be a SS or an offensive threat? If he can't be both, does a position change make the team better? 

If we were close to competing I'd certainly understand his need to be a lot better a lot quicker. Since that is not the reality, let's continue to find out who he is and/or how he helps the organization

I agree that this is a "make it or break it" year for Lee both because this is the year he will exceed that 1000-1200 ABs where you're still developing and it may be his last chance to hold off Culpeper and/or Marek for the job. Having said that, we need to give him the shot and see what we have here. That means 400-500 plus ABs and 100 plus games at SS. We aren't going anywhere this year and Culpeper and Marek aren't just a couple of months away. This is his opportunity.  Let's make it a real opportunity, 

I felt like this year was a "prove it opportunity" year for at least 5-6 guys on the roster before Pablo got hurt. Now, it is absolutely an opportunity/make it or break it year for AT LEAST the following guys - Lee, Martin, Keaschall, Wallner, Bradley, SWR, and Lewis, and that may expand to include Roden, Matthews, and Adams depending on injury and whether the other guys perform. But you can't give guys an opportunity to make it or break it of they don't get to play regularly. Right now, we are poised to give all of those guys a real shot. Don't change that structure. I want to see an everyday lineup with Martin in LF, Keaschall at 2B, Lewis at 3B, Wallner in RF or at DH, and Lee at SS at least through mid-June pretty much almost regardless of results. Don't replace these guys with average vets like Giolito to squeeze out an extra 2 wins or replace them with the next shiny unproven object like Abel, GG, Emma, Culpeper, etc. until they've had their chance. Give them that chance now, If they don't take advantage, then pivot to a full scale rebuild in July but not until then.  

 

[Jeff K]

1 hour ago, LA Vikes Fan said:

I agree that this is a "make it or break it" year for Lee both because this is the year he will exceed that 1000-1200 ABs where you're still developing and it may be his last chance to hold off Culpeper and/or Marek for the job. Having said that, we need to give him the shot and see what we have here. That means 400-500 plus ABs and 100 plus games at SS. We aren't going anywhere this year and Culpeper and Marek aren't just a couple of months away. This is his opportunity.  Let's make it a real opportunity, 

I felt like this year was a "prove it opportunity" year for at least 5-6 guys on the roster before Pablo got hurt. Now, it is absolutely an opportunity/make it or break it year for AT LEAST the following guys - Lee, Martin, Keaschall, Wallner, Bradley, SWR, and Lewis, and that may expand to include Roden, Matthews, and Adams depending on injury and whether the other guys perform. But you can't give guys an opportunity to make it or break it of they don't get to play regularly. Right now, we are poised to give all of those guys a real shot. Don't change that structure. I want to see an everyday lineup with Martin in LF, Keaschall at 2B, Lewis at 3B, Wallner in RF or at DH, and Lee at SS at least through mid-June pretty much almost regardless of results. Don't replace these guys with average vets like Giolito to squeeze out an extra 2 wins or replace them with the next shiny unproven object like Abel, GG, Emma, Culpeper, etc. until they've had their chance. Give them that chance now, If they don't take advantage, then pivot to a full scale rebuild in July but not until then.  

 

Culpepper might not be as far off as you think...at least that is my hope...or perhaps wishful thinking.  Oh heck, I don't know.  Let's go with hoping.

[rdehring]

1 hour ago, LA Vikes Fan said:

I agree that this is a "make it or break it" year for Lee both because this is the year he will exceed that 1000-1200 ABs where you're still developing and it may be his last chance to hold off Culpeper and/or Marek for the job. Having said that, we need to give him the shot and see what we have here. That means 400-500 plus ABs and 100 plus games at SS. We aren't going anywhere this year and Culpeper and Marek aren't just a couple of months away. This is his opportunity.  Let's make it a real opportunity, 

I felt like this year was a "prove it opportunity" year for at least 5-6 guys on the roster before Pablo got hurt. Now, it is absolutely an opportunity/make it or break it year for AT LEAST the following guys - Lee, Martin, Keaschall, Wallner, Bradley, SWR, and Lewis, and that may expand to include Roden, Matthews, and Adams depending on injury and whether the other guys perform. But you can't give guys an opportunity to make it or break it of they don't get to play regularly. Right now, we are poised to give all of those guys a real shot. Don't change that structure. I want to see an everyday lineup with Martin in LF, Keaschall at 2B, Lewis at 3B, Wallner in RF or at DH, and Lee at SS at least through mid-June pretty much almost regardless of results. Don't replace these guys with average vets like Giolito to squeeze out an extra 2 wins or replace them with the next shiny unproven object like Abel, GG, Emma, Culpeper, etc. until they've had their chance. Give them that chance now, If they don't take advantage, then pivot to a full scale rebuild in July but not until then.  

 

Loved your comment, LA, with one exception.  Personally, I don't ever want to see Wallner in right field again.  I know I will, but I cringe every time a ball is hit that way.

[AceWrigley]

5 hours ago, arby58 said:

Not every player is poor defensively and lacking speed. You have to be good at something.

 

[Cris E]

2 hours ago, LA Vikes Fan said:

I felt like this year was a "prove it opportunity" year for at least 5-6 guys on the roster before Pablo got hurt. Now, it is absolutely an opportunity/make it or break it year for AT LEAST the following guys - Lee, Martin, Keaschall, Wallner, Bradley, SWR, and Lewis, and that may expand to include Roden, Matthews, and Adams depending on injury and whether the other guys perform.

That's a bit unfair. Lee's had over 700 PA over a couple years, and Martin has been up for 440 AB over a couple years as well. Same with SWR, Bradley, Wallner and Lewis. But Keaschall's only had 49 games, Roden 55 and Mathews and Adams even fewer.

There's a certain amount of deer in headlights time that everyone should get before it's time to cut bait. It has as much to do with time in the locker room as time on the field, so this should not be the end for the guys that debuted last summer. (But I'd add Outman to that Prove It list.)

[KirbyDome89]

43 minutes ago, Cris E said:

That's a bit unfair. Lee's had over 700 PA over a couple years, and Martin has been up for 440 AB over a couple years as well. Same with SWR, Bradley, Wallner and Lewis. But Keaschall's only had 49 games, Roden 55 and Mathews and Adams even fewer.

There's a certain amount of deer in headlights time that everyone should get before it's time to cut bait. It has as much to do with time in the locker room as time on the field, so this should not be the end for the guys that debuted last summer. (But I'd add Outman to that Prove It list.)

For Keaschall, I agree, for the rest of that crew, it is "make it or break it," at least as far as retaining the roles they'll have this season.