Neal: Brooks Lee is thrown into the fire with Twins in need of help

Under normal circumstances, Brooks Lee would have received some time to get his bat sharp at Class AAA St. Paul before coming off the injured list.

But, in case you haven’t noticed, the Twins already are in all-hands-on-deck mode just three weeks into the season.

So Lee was in the lineup Wednesday night, going 2-for-4 with an RBI single in the fifth inning of the Twins’ 6-3 victory over the Chicago White Sox, a team opponents use to end a slump. The smelly Sox went 41-121 last season, the worst in major league history.

So far, they are on pace to be even worse.

Lee reached base three times Tuesday night in a 4-2 victory over Chicago but entered Wednesday batting just .143 with a home run in eight games since recovering from a lumbar strain that snuck up on him. When he made his 2025 debut April 13 against Detroit, it was his first official game since March 17.

A St. Paul tuneup should have been the move. Twins manager Rocco Baldelli was asked before Wednesday’s game about his comfort level activating Lee after nearly a month off.

“There was no hesitation to do that,” Baldelli said. “We had a need, I would say, because we had a few things going on.”

Royce Lewis was already on the injured list because of a hamstring strain, and he’s not ready to return. The Twins also were dealing with the perils of Jose Miranda, who was swinging at everything, not catching everything and walking off bases when he was safe. A St. Paul adjustment was required, but Miranda spoiled that by injuring his wrist trying to catch a case of water that was slipping out of his hands.

More recently, Willi Castro has been sidelined with an oblique strain. The Twins had to acquire Jonah Bride from Miami last week just for depth.

The Twins have yet to see the talent that made Lee, 24, one of the best prospects in baseball. Health, particularly with back issues going back to high school, has been an issue. The pool is Lee’s friend. He swam almost daily in college and uses the activity for core strength, which keeps his back stable. He uses hotel pools on the road and has access to one in town. A switch hitter, Lee has two swings and one back to maintain.

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So Lee is being thrown into the fire, charged with helping an offense that was averaging 3.3 runs per game at the time.

Lee is too disciplined and has hand-eye coordination that’s too strong for him not to start hitting. The swing is too smooth not to launch line drives all over Target Field. He was the eighth overall pick in the 2022 draft because he was considered one of the best hitters coming out of college. He hit .331 on three different minor league levels last season. He’s not fast, but he’s sure-handed with an arm that is strong and true.

Lee is hitting .212 over his first 58 major league games. But do not forget that he’s a top prospect who is expected to flourish.

“I think he’s ready to show everyone what he can do,” Baldelli said. “I think he really is at that point where he wants to be able to play and perform and grab a spot on the team and in the lineup and show that he not only belongs here, but that he’s a damn good player and he wants to show it. So, I think that’s what we’re getting from him right now.

“He’s a reliable young player on the field. He’s pretty fundamentally sound, wherever you put him. Slows the game down pretty good, and, you know, starting to have some good at-bats, so he looks good.”

No part of the Twins — hitting, starting pitching, relief, defense — has been reliable during this awful start to the season. But the offense, which was 10th in the majors in runs scored last season, has been particularly head-scratching. On Tuesday, the Twins failed to score more than four runs for the sixth time in seven games.

Byron Buxton has heated up over the last week after batting .179 over the first 15 games. Baldelli can’t find a spot in the lineup to get Carlos Correa, batting .184 entering Wednesday, going.

One of the Twins’ most effective hitters has been Luke Keaschall, who played in his fifth major league game Wednesday. And he was the only Twin in the lineup with an OPS over .716.

So, yeah, this would be a good time for Lee to get locked in at the plate and remind everyone what he’s capable of doing.