Twins to promote their No. 2 prospect for his MLB debut

Lee, now 23, was selected with the eighth overall pick in 2022 and signed with an overslot bonus of $5.675MM. Since then, in short, he has mashed his way up the minor league ladder. That started right after he was drafted, as he got into 31 games in 2022, seeing time at the Complex League level, High-A and then Double-A. He produced a line of .303/.388/.451 in those games, walking at an 11.5% clip and striking out just 14.4% of the time.

He returned to Double-A last year and carried that kind of production over in his 87 games there in 2023. He had 11 home runs, a 10.3% walk rate, 15.8% strikeout rate and .292/.365/.476 batting line. He was promoted to Triple-A and his numbers dipped, though the rates were still good and his batting average on balls in play dropped from .325 at Double-A to .258 at the level above.

This year, a lower back strain put him on the minor league injured list to start the year. He didn’t make his season debut until May 20, getting some rehab games at the Complex League level and Single-A. 

He then was bumped to Triple-A and has hit seven homers in just 20 games there, walking 9.6% of the time and striking out at only a 13.8% clip. He currently sports a monster line of .329/.394/.635 in those 20 games for the Saints this year, which translates to a 159 wRC+.

That almost constant barrage of offense has him unsurprisingly ranked as one of the better prospects in the league. Baseball America currently lists him in the No. 28 spot, FanGraphs at No. 49 and MLB Pipeline at No. 13. ESPN put him 27th in their May update while Keith Law of The Athletic had him 31st coming into the year.

Lee has largely played shortstop in his career thus far, though there’s some disagreement about whether he’ll stick there. His speed is only average but he is considered to have a reliability at the position that makes him passable there. 

With Carlos Correa pretty firmly implanted at that spot for the Twins for now, it’s been speculated that Lee may be ticketed for a move to either second or third, with his arm considered strong enough for the hot corner.

For much of the recent past, the Twins have had too many infielders to find time for everyone, so much so that Jorge Polanco was flipped to the Mariners in the offseason. Even with him out of the picture, they’ve had Carlos Santana, Alex Kirilloff, Edouard Julien, Royce Lewis, José Miranda, Willi Castro, Kyle Farmer and Austin Martin in the infield mix alongside Correa.

But that picture has gotten a bit less crowded as the season has gone along. Julien struggled and got himself optioned to Triple-A. Kirilloff is on the injured list. Farmer is a glove-first bench player who isn’t hitting much this year. Castro and Martin have been bouncing between the infield and outfield.

Lately, the club has been rolling with a primary alignment of Santana at first and Correa at short, while 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 mix might mean that Lewis is headed for yet another stint on the injured list. The incredibly talented but oft-injured player has hit .303/.361/.584 since his May 2022 promotion, but with various injuries limiting him to just 94 big league contests. He was removed from Tuesday night’s game with some groin tightness and Dan Hayes of The Athletic relayed after the contest that Lewis was headed for an MRI.

Time will tell exactly how Lee is used, and whether or not this is a brief stint to cover for Lewis or if he is in the majors for good. In the long term, their infield logjam is likely to continue into the future. Of the aforementioned group, only Santana and Farmer are slated for free agency after this year. Farmer has a mutual option on his deal but those pacts are almost never triggered by both sides.

For now, Lee will get a shot against big league pitching and will try to cement himself as a key part of the long-term infield in Minnesota, as well as helping them return to the postseason this year. The club is currently 48-37 and in possession of a wild-card spot in the American League. 

If Lee is up for good, he will qualify for arbitration after 2027 and free agency after 2030, though future optional assignments could alter those timelines.