‘It’s been different’: Brooks Lee showing improvement as hitter in second season

BOSTON – Brooks Lee isn’t battling shoulder soreness this season, so maybe that’s why he is having more success in the batter’s box. Maybe the 2022 first-round draft pick just needed some time to acclimate to the big leagues, or maybe it stems from a full offseason of adjustments.

Lee admits he isn’t quite sure, though he feels much more comfortable at the plate than he did a year ago.

“Who knows, it could be anything,” Lee said. “My body is in a better spot right now than it was last year, but also, I think I’m more accustomed to big-league pitching.”

Lee, a 24-year-old switch hitter, missed the first few weeks of the season after he dealt with back tightness at the end of spring training. He totaled more walks (six) than strikeouts (five) through his first 56 plate appearances, and he entered Friday’s series opener against the Boston Red Sox with 11 hits in his last 31 at-bats (.355 batting average).

It’s too small of a sample size to make any grand proclamations, but he’s already barreled as many pitches as he did in 50 games last year, according to StatCast. He hit .176 against fastballs in his rookie season and he’s hitting .310 against them this year.

“I mean, I just didn’t have the swing for it last year,” Lee said. “When you’re looking for a fastball, and granted a lot of guys don’t throw it anymore, but still trying for fastball timing. When you do end up getting that pitch and you don’t get it, I think that’s more frustrating than anything, which can lead to not being able to separate for the next pitch because you missed your pitch. It’s been different this year.”

Twins Manager Rocco Baldelli thought health was a big factor in Lee’s struggles last season. Now, he sees a young hitter with a stronger swing and better plate discipline.

“Those things don’t come overnight,” Baldelli said. “You’re not going to just wake up one day and see a completely different hitter, but it’s something he’s spending a lot of time on.”

Lee added: “My whole career, I want to make contact early [in the count], but I’ve done a better job with the quality of contact. I think anybody can just tap the ball, which is what I did last year. That’s not going to last.”

When Lee worked on his swing during the winter, he said there were some obvious adjustments he needed to make in hindsight.

“You do something the first time around, it’s going to be difficult,” Lee said. “Facing major league pitching, everyone throws 100 and they all have 90-mph sliders. I played in the Big West [in college] with guys throwing 88 mph. It’s a different game, but I’ve become accustomed to it because I’m an athlete, I can adjust and that’s what I’m doing.”

Trevor Larnach batted leadoff for the first time this season Friday, the fourth player the Twins have used as a leadoff man against a righthanded starting pitcher.

Larnach hit leadoff in 13 games last year, so it’s not a foreign spot for him in the lineup, but it reflects Baldelli searching for a guy who can handle it regularly.

Matt Wallner, who is on the 10-day injured list with a left hamstring strain, started the season as the team’s leadoff hitter, and Edouard Julien was batting .143 with a .246 on-base percentage when he was atop the lineup. Mickey Gasper started one game at leadoff earlier this week.

“You’re always looking for someone that you can pencil in on most days and just let them go out there and do the job,” Baldelli said. “I’m not looking for one type of hitter to do the job. You’re looking for guys to go out there, get on base and be productive for you. That’s really it.”

Larnach entered Friday with a .286 batting average and .352 on-base percentage over his last 13 games.

“It doesn’t have to be one guy for the entire season,” Baldelli said. “I mean, that would be great, but it doesn’t have to be. We can rotate them if we have to.”