Twins' Brooks Lee Fixed a Weakness That Could Change His Future

The Twins player has sustained his production in the second half, but he still has room to improve against different pitches and against left-handers.

Minnesota Twins third baseman Brooks Lee (22). Mandatory Credit: Dennis Lee-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Brooks Lee has had a second half that perfectly describes his story of overcoming adversity in the third season of his career with the Minnesota Twins.

In his first two years in the Major Leagues, he posted just a 44 wRC+ in 2024 and 77 last year. This year, after the All-Star break, his offense has not unfolded as much as what his power improvement has been this season, but he has shown much more stability, posting a 101 wRC+, surpassing the league average for the first time.

That jump tells us much more if we compare it with the rest of the Twins’ hitters in this second half of the season, most of it spent fighting with playoff aspirations. In 60 games and 245 plate appearances, Lee has a .263/.294/.440 slash line, with a .316 wOBA and 1.1 fWAR, the second-best on the team, behind only Luke Keaschall (1.7).

In several aspects, this also represents an improvement compared to his performance in the first half of the season, when Brooks had a .249/.309/.428 offensive line and a 106 wRC+.

Although he has been a more aggressive hitter in this second stretch, seeing his walk rate fall from 7.5% to 3.7%, he managed to generate similar contact while his strikeout rate rose slightly from 16.1% to 16.3%. Lee has hit the ball hard for almost the entire year from both sides of the plate, producing a 29.9 Hit Hard% batting right-handed and 32.9% against left-handers.

So seeing him attack pitches in the zone more frequently and take advantage of his bat speed is often giving him production, also raising his BABIP from .265 to .277 and his slugging from .428 to .440 since the All-Star break.

All these improvements have made this his best offensive season with the Twins, and not only because of the fact that he has recorded 24 home runs and 72 RBIs so far. Since he arrived in the Majors, his occasional power has always revealed a glimpse of what he could achieve by making adjustments, so an interesting second step here for the future could be to expand his contact skills and improve a bit in his plate discipline.

Being honest, I feel that Lee can give the Twins more with this offensive profile, given that his swing provides power from both sides of the plate, but it would not be a bad thing for him to work on improving his on-base percentage without breaking his essence and approach in the batter’s box.

Lee’s second half is then divided into two parts: first, his frustrating month of July, batting .218/.292/.356 during the month with an 82 wRC+. However, he caught fire again in August, batting .265/.286/.490, with a 113 wRC+ and a .225 ISO. Since then, Lee has not fallen off again in his monthly performance, rounding out a second half of the season with a key contribution to Minnesota’s lineup.

The Most Interesting Change Is in His Handling of Pitches

Minnesota Twins third baseman Brooks Lee (22). Mandatory Credit: Jesse Johnson-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

The most important thing in Lee’s offensive evolution this year is in his adjustments to reduce the dominance that pitchers had explored with their secondary pitches.

In 2025, breaking balls generated a 34.3% whiff rate for him, but this year Lee has reduced that rate to 26.4%. Something similar happened with the offspeed mix, from 30.8% to 25.7%.

That can change how pitchers are going to attack him in different situations, and as long as he continues responding better against breaking balls and off-speed pitches, pitchers will have to deliver more fastballs.

That is precisely the plan Lee needs, since he has been a fastball punish­er, to the point that 17 of his 24 home runs this year have come against fastballs. In his entire career, Lee has hit 33 of his 43 home runs against fastballs, and this year he improved his slugging from .500 in 2024 to .524.

Minnesota Twins third baseman Brooks Lee (22). Mandatory Credit: Neville E. Guard-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

In general, he still has to work on his defense, which could raise his value in the future, but it is clear that, as long as Lee’s bat produces, the Twins will find a place for him in the lineup. And this year, for the first time in his career, he has shown that he can be much more consistent along the way.