The Twins introduced that they’ve chosen the contract of prospect Brooks Lee, per a report from Infielder Royce Lewis has been positioned on the 10-day injured checklist with a proper adductor pressure, opening an lively roster spot for Lee. To get him onto the 40-man, right-hander Brock Stewart has been transferred to the 60-day IL. Declan Goff and Darren Wolfson of SKOR North first reported Lee’s promotion on X. The membership’s president of baseball operations Derek Falvey says that Lewis has a Grade 2 pressure and can be out a minimum of by way of the All-Star break, per Betsy Helfand of the St. Paul Pioneer Press on X.
Lee, now 23, was chosen with the eighth total choose in 2022 and signed with an overslot bonus of $5.675MM. Since then, briefly, he has mashed his means up the minor league ladder. That began proper after he was drafted, as he received into 31 video games in 2022, seeing time on the Complicated League stage, Excessive-A after which Double-A. He produced a line of .303/.388/.451 in these video games, strolling at an 11.5% clip and putting out simply 14.4% of the time.
He returned to Double-A final 12 months and carried that type of manufacturing over in his 87 video games there in 2023. He had 11 residence runs, a ten.3% stroll price, 15.8% strikeout price and .292/.365/.476 batting line. He was promoted to Triple-A and his numbers dipped, although the charges have been nonetheless good and his batting common on balls in play dropped from .325 at Double-A to .258 on the stage above.
This 12 months, a decrease again pressure put him on the minor league injured checklist to start out the 12 months. He didn’t make his season debut till Could 20, getting some rehab video games on the Complicated League stage and Single-A. He then was bumped to Triple-A and has hit seven homers in simply 20 video games there, strolling 9.6% of the time and putting out at solely a 13.8% clip. He presently sports activities a monster line of .329/.394/.635 in these 20 video games for the Saints this 12 months, which interprets to a 159 wRC+.
That nearly fixed barrage of offense has him unsurprisingly ranked as one of many higher prospects within the league. Baseball America presently lists him within the #28 spot, FanGraphs at #49 and MLB Pipeline at #13. ESPN put him twenty seventh of their Could replace whereas Keith Legislation of The Athletic had him thirty first coming into the 12 months.
Lee has largely performed shortstop in his profession up to now, although there’s some disagreement about whether or not he’ll stick there. His pace is simply common however he’s thought-about to have a reliability on the place that makes him satisfactory there. With Carlos Correa fairly firmly implanted at that spot for the Twins for now, it’s been speculated that Lee could also be ticketed for a transfer to both second or third, along with his arm thought-about robust sufficient for the new nook.
For a lot of the latest previous, the Twins have had too many infielders to make time for everybody, a lot in order that Jorge Polanco was flipped to the Mariners within the offseason. Even with him out of the image, they’ve had Lewis, Carlos Santana, Alex Kirilloff, Edouard Julien, José Miranda, Willi Castro, Kyle Farmer and Austin Martin within the infield combine alongside Correa.
However that image has gotten a bit much less crowded because the season has gone alongside. Julien struggled and received himself optioned to Triple-A. Kirilloff is on the injured checklist. Farmer is a glove-first bench participant who isn’t hitting a lot this 12 months. Castro and Martin have been bouncing between the infield and outfield.
Currently, the membership has been rolling with a major alignment of Santana at first and Correa at brief, whereas Lewis and Miranda have shared third base and the designated hitter slot, with second base duties rotating between Castro, Farmer and Martin.
Getting Lee into that blend is simpler now that Lewis is headed for one more stint on the injured checklist. The extremely proficient however oft-injured participant has hit .303/.361/.584 since his Could 2022 promotion, however with varied accidents limiting him to simply 94 massive league contests. He was faraway from final evening’s sport with some groin tightness and Dan Hayes of The Athletic relayed after the competition that Lewis was headed for an MRI.
Time will inform precisely how Lee is used, and whether or not or not it is a temporary stint to cowl for Lewis or if he’s within the majors for good. In the long run, their infield logjam is prone to proceed into the longer term. Of the aforementioned group, solely Santana and Farmer are slated at no cost company after this 12 months. Farmer has a mutual possibility on his deal however these pacts are nearly by no means triggered by either side.
For now, Lee will get a shot towards massive league pitching and can attempt to cement himself as a key a part of the long-term infield in Minnesota, in addition to serving to them return to the postseason this 12 months. The membership is presently 48-37 and in possession of a Wild Card spot within the American League. If Lee is up for good, he’ll qualify for arbitration after 2027 and free company after 2030, although future non-obligatory assignments might alter these timelines.
As for Stewart, his switch was a formality as he’s already been on the IL for 60 days at this level. He was positioned there Could 2 resulting from proper shoulder tendinitis. He’s scheduled for some upcoming bullpen periods, per Bobby Nightengale of the Star Tribune on X, however will want some extra time to ramp up.
