Earlier this season it looked like an injury to Royce Lewis opened a path for Minnesota Twins top prospect Brooks Lee to finally make his MLB debut. That didn't happen, though, as an injury to Lee got in the way.
Four months later, Lee is getting a re-do.
Lewis left Tuesday's game against the Detroit Tigers with groin tightness which has once again opened up a lane for Lee to get promoted. It seems the second time is the charm, as the Twins are expected to call Lee up to take Lewis' roster spot while he heals up.
According to SKOR North Twins beat writer Declan Goff and KSTP's Darren Wolfson, the Twins will be calling up Lee to join the team for this current series against the Tigers. It's unclear when he'll actually get into the starting lineup, but that's almost anecdotal to news that Lee is finally going to be joining the big league roster.
Minnesota Twins finally promote top prospect Brooks Lee
Lee is Minnesota's No. 2 prospect in the farm system and a Top 20 prospect in all of baseball. He leaped all the way up inside of the Top 30 in Baseball America's latest ranking, and his promotion to the majors has been a long time coming.
I'm hearing Brooks Lee is being called up to the #MNTwins, sources tell me and @DWolfsonKSTP. No word yet if he'll be in tonight's starting lineup.
— Declan Goff (@DexsTweets) July 3, 2024
MLB Pipeline's Jonathan Mayo and The Athletic's Dan Hayes both confirmed the news shortly after Goff's tweet made the rounds.
Now the question is how and where will Lee fit into the lineup?
Jose Miranda has been lighting it up so far this year in what has been a nice bounce back season for him. The Twins can either keep him at third base to replace Lewis or slide him over to becoming the everyday designated hitter while putting Lee at third.
Ideally Lee slots in as Minnesota's second baseman, with Miranda at third and a mix of guys cycling through the DH role. If all goes well, this could set up a scenario when Lewis returns where the Twins have a lineup consisting of:
- Brooks Lee, 2B
- Carlos Correa, SS
- Royce Lewis, 3B
- Jose Miranda, DH
That's not even accounting for guys like Byron Buxton, Trevor Larnach, and Willi Castro who have all been playing at a high level this season.
brooks lee hates st paul and doesn’t want to live there anymore pic.twitter.com/8hsJKXygOk
— parker hageman (@HagemanParker) July 3, 2024
We're sort of putting the cart before the horse, but Twins fans can't be blamed for being excited to see Lee make his debut and what it means for the future. He's only two years removed from being a Top 10 draft pick and has ascended at an insane rate through the farm system.
He's been absolutely mashing at Triple-A after returning from injury, slashing .329/.394/.635 in 20 games. Lee was also named to the MLB All-Star Futures team to participate in the new showcase competition, which means he's essentially done everything he could possibly do in the minors before making his big league leap.
Minnesota's hand has been essentially forced, and it's a beautiful thing. With Lee up, another major piece of the future has been moved into place.
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