Twins top prospect Brooks Lee is headed to the MLB All-Star Game with a massive catch
By Josh Hill
Update (7/3/24) It was revealed on Wednesday that the Minnesota Twins are calling Brooks Lee up to the MLB roster. He's expected to make his debut this week.
While we're officially past the halfway point of the season on the MLB schedule, the unofficial marker still remains MLB All-Star Weekend. That won't be happening until July 16th, and when it arrives the Minnesota Twins will have at least one representitive down in Texas.
Brooks Lee made the All-Star Futures team as Minnesota's only representative, which serves as another massive endorsement of his rise through the farm system. He started the season as the Twins' second-highest prospect and a Top 20 prospect in all of baseball, and likely would already be on the roster had it not been for an injury during the final week of Spring Training.
Despite this he's still on track to make his debut this season, something that might be happening soon if we read into the All-Star Futures roster selection process.
Brooks Lee named to MLB All-Star Futures roster, but won't be playing in the game
There's one major catch with Lee's inclusion on the All-Star Futures roster: he's not actually playing in the game. It's likely that Seattle's Cole Young or Boston's Marcelo Mayer will be at shortstop for the American League squad while Lee is merely watching along with the rest of us.
It's not a ceremonial selection, though.
Instead, Lee will be participating in the Futures Skill Showcase which is a skills competition taking place separately. He's among six prospects who are going to be Future Skills Showcase participants only, which could be an indication that he's viewed as someone about the finally get called up and make his debut where other guys on the roster are a little more green.
That's a testament to how qiuckly Lee has ascended through the farm system. He was drafted just 24 months ago and it took him less than a year to reach Triple-A. Even with an injury delaying the start of his season, Lee has lit it up in St. Paul to such a degree that he's heading to the All-Star Game which tells you everything about where he's at in his development.
To be clear, Lee isn't being held off the roster for the game specifically because a call-up is imminent. Rather, that fact that he's already so advanced that he's litereally showing up to Arlington to flex his skills is something Twins fans should be very excited about -- both to watch him particiapte and for what it means for the future.
More Minnesota Twins news and rumors