Can the Twins Gain a Strategic Advantage at Second Base?

Lewis makes no sense at 2B.  He doesn't want to play there, has not shown any reason to believe he will be particularly good there and I'm not sure I want base runners in the grill of an injury prone guy trying to break up double plays for a hundred and forty games.  Lee makes all the sense in the world.  Until Keaschall is ready at which point move Lee to 3B, Lewis to 1B and Miranda to either DH or STP.  Maybe Payton Eeles factors in as well by the end of 2025.  My gut says Willi Castro gets moved before the end of 2025.  Austin Martin, Keaschall & Eeles all look capable of doing much of what he does for less money.  Another possibility is Lee being a "Super Utility" guy ala Michael Cuddyer circa 2004.

Brooks Lee:  Avoiding the sophomore Slump?????

In order to avoid the sophomore slump, that implies the player had a good freshman year, which statistically was not the case with Brooks Lee.    He racked up a whopping -0.2 WAR while batting .221, those are already slumping numbers.  The headline should say something like Brooks Lee:  Hoping to prove the hype with sophomore campaign.

Lee is best at 3B. He needs to hit tho but Miranda/Lewis are also there. Lee is the better defender so he gets the spot. 
Lewis needs to either settle in at 2nd or platoon in LF/DH. That doesn’t make much sense but neither does Lewis at 1st.  Miranda needs to learn 1B by April and Lewis needs to learn to love 2B. 

Such a good article topic.  Reading all the responses reminds me of how many holes and question marks this team has.  It's daunting.  Many of the Twins prospects have not shown much at the major league level thus far.  Maybe that's due in part to them being relegated to part time status with their platoon system.  Very strange way to develop your prospects:  play full time In minors only to play part time on the major league squad.

Why are we talking about this when the FO and manager like daily lineup changes. The only positions that had minimal change was 1B and catcher. Yes injuries had something to do with it. But when you look at LF since Rosario left there has been more than 25 different players. Hopefully when someone comes in and buys the team the first thing they do is dismiss Falvey and Rocco. To get improved defense players need to have a position they play regularly.

On 11/9/2024 at 9:48 AM, Riverbrian said:

Apparently Julien is out of consideration. 

Julien has to prove he can hit and field at the MLB level.  The current answer is:  C for none of the above.

On 11/9/2024 at 8:48 AM, Riverbrian said:

Apparently Julien is out of consideration. 

I hope so. He looked terrified on the field.

Do we know Keaschall can play 2B as well or better than Julien? He hasn’t played very much 2B in the Twins organization. He had 44 games at 2B, 24 in outfield, 13 at 1B and 2 at 3B. He also has 55 at DH but the bulk of those were after the arm trouble.

It seems like most second basemen start as shortstops. Players that start at 2B often move to a corner like Yunior Severino. I haven’t seen any of Keaschall’s games in person but his use in the minors makes me wonder if he will need to move to corner. In any case if they want him to develop at 2B they should give him the bulk of the season in the minors.

23 hours ago, bean5302 said:

Considering Brooks Lee has a weak arm and is among the slowest runners in all of MLB, there are going to be serious limits as to where he can play.
Any OF position is a no go as Lee doesn't have the speed.
3B/SS isn't ideal because he doesn't have the arm.
Lee profiles best as a utility infielder (if he can find a way to get his bat out of the depths) or at 2B.

Dude was the # 8 pick less than 3 years ago and has less than 500 plate appearances above AA ball.  I think we can hold off on the angst for just a bit.

7 hours ago, bean5302 said:

His athletic limitations are not something you would expect improvement upon, and they are consistent with his pre-draft scouting reports saying he would be relying on instincts, smooth motion and good hands for his defensive value. He was a bat first guy, mostly based on a scouted elite hit tool. Few people thought Lee could stick at SS because of his limited range and the lack of a true plus arm.

There is no angst. There is a recognition of who Brooks Lee is as a player, and where he could excel. 2B/3B are the best options for Lee, though it would be better if Lee had a stronger arm for 3B. OF is off the table. SS is probably a stretch. His lack of power means 1B/DH are tough options as well, just like Jose Miranda's ceiling at 1B is limited without more power or better plate discipline. That's reality. 

When it comes to Lee's value as a starter, he is going to need to hit, and he's going to need to take walks. If he can't get his on base percentage up 60pts, his ceiling is going to be very limited. His OBP isn't going to improve unless he can figure out how to catch up to MLB fastballs.

Everything you've just said is TBD

That’s a long article to say, “Um…so, no”. 

6 hours ago, bean5302 said:

No, it's not TBD whether or not Brooks Lee is one of the slowest runners in all of MLB. It's virtual fact because we know his sprint speeds, he wasn't suffering from a lower body injury, and his scouting reports line up with the results. He's literally one of the worst runners in all of MLB. Trevor Larnach can literally outrun Brooks Lee based on published 90ft splits and sprint speed, and the only thing which makes Larnach passable in LF is great instincts.

No, it's not TBD whether or not Brooks Lee has a strong arm. He doesn't. The scouting reports are clear he makes accurate throws, but his arm was not a true plus tool. The published throwing data on Lee puts his avg/max throwing 82/83mph far below average for a SS 85/90mph or a 3B 84/87mph, but probably average or maybe a tick over for a 2B 77/85mph.

Brooks Lee struggled with both sinking and 4 seam fastballs last year. That's an indisputable fact. He had slow bat speed vs. the average major league baseball player, especially when he's swinging from the right side. That's an indisputable fact. It's virtually indisputable that MLB pitchers will challenge guys with fastballs until a player proves they can hit them as it's a time proven approach against rookies and young hitters.

Brooks Lee is not a viable starter unless he can get close to league average on base percentage, and that's like 60pts higher than it was last year.

These things are not TBD.

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