2 The Bigs

By Chris Corso

The Minnesota Twins may have gotten the best pure bat in the 2022 MLB Draft when they landed shortstop Brooks Lee with the No. 8 overall pick last year.

Lee is already 22 years old and may have also been the most MLB-ready player in the entire class. The 5-foot-11, 205 lb. shortstop out of Cal Poly has another thing going for him that most players in the class do not.

He’s a switch-hitter.

His sophomore and junior seasons at Cal Poly were some of the bests in all of the NCAA at the plate. Lee hit .342 with a .384 OBP with ten home runs and 57 runs batted in as a sophomore in college. His junior season he topped that with a .357 average and a .462 OBP with over double the number of walks as he had in the previous season (46). He also bashed 15 homers and drove in 55 runners in 58 games.

Where he caught and certainly passed the eye test was during the Pandemic in the Cape Cod Baseball League in which he competed for Yarmouth-Dennis in 2021. There are many benefits to my wife’s family living on Cape Cod during the pandemic and one was getting to see Brooks Lee in person. Lee was one of the top three hitters in the whole league joining the likes of Spencer Jones and Chase DeLauter. He was the only player in the league to hit over .400 that season. In 21 games played he hit .405 bashed six homers and drove in 13 runs. I sat there at the legendary field in Yarmouth named after the great Thurmon Munson and couldn’t believe how dominant this player was.

When he joined the Twins organization at 21 years old, he instantly became one of their most polished bats in the minor league system. Over two seasons he’s hit .281 with 20 homers and 99 runs batted in over 623 at-bats. Hi finished top 20 across all minor league shortstops in SLG, OPS, and K-rate. In Triple-A he slowed down a bit, but I promise you that this kid is ready for the big show. He will most likely start next season in Triple-A St. Paul.

For the long term, Lee is going to be a stud for the Twins and I see him being in the middle of the infield for them alongside the face of the franchise Royce Lewis for years to come. This tandem could easily be one of the best in the game if all goes to plan within the next five seasons. There aren’t many successful switch-hitting middle infielders in the game today and I can see him being better than Jorge Polanco, the previous one in Minnesota. Lee can be a .280 hitter at the pro level with 15-25 homers and play a solid infield.

Ozzie (Albies) and Francisco (Lindor) watch out, there’s another switch-hitting player coming to the middle infield next season.

You can find his 1st Bowman Autograph in the 2022 Bowman Draft set. He is WAY undervalued for the time being. As are most players given the current state of the economy and the fact that it’s quiet season for baeball. You could find a Gold Refractor Auto on eBay under $500 bucks, if you have the budget you may want to pick it up. Shortstop is a prime position in the hobby and for a top-20 overall prospect, we like his floor. His ceiling is what has yet to be determined in the Twin Cities.