three months of explosive training<\/a> this offseason \u2014 helped him get the final out in Saturday\u2019s 2-1, 11-inning win over Cleveland; a play he doesn\u2019t think he was capable of making a year ago.<\/p>\n<\/p>\nRecognizing that Twins reliever Luis Garcia planned to attack Cleveland hitter Brayan Rocchio with sinkers, Lee anticipated a grounder headed his way. Lee was prepared to move when Rocchio hit a 1-2 sinker just past Garcia\u2019s glove, ticketed for center field. Stunningly, Lee ranged four steps to his left, slid, gloved the ball, and fired a one-hopper to first, which Kody Clemens corralled for the final out.<\/p>\n
An inning earlier, Lee made another dazzling play when \u2014 while playing with the infield in \u2014 he dove to his left to steal a surefire game-winning hit from Daniel Schneemann with the bases loaded.<\/p>\n
\u201cTwo great plays,\u201d Twins manager Derek Shelton said. \u201cThe line drive back up through the middle, the anticipation. And the play at the end of the game. Not only is it a great play and Kody makes a great play on the other side of it, but at that time of the game with that kind of runner to be able to do it \u2014 he just continues to get better.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
While defensive metrics show Lee is slightly improved, he\u2019s still a negative defender on the season.<\/p>\n
Lee has produced minus-3 Outs Above Average, according to Baseball Savant, while Sports Info Solutions grades Lee with minus-4 Defensive Runs Saved.<\/p>\n
Those figures represent a combination of miscues on makable plays \u2014 particularly during a three-game sweep in April at the hands of the Cincinnati Reds \u2014 and on other balls Lee couldn\u2019t corral.<\/p>\n
However, since April 21, Lee has been showing improvement, making the plays he\u2019s expected to. In that span, Lee has been worth zero Outs Above Average while Sports Info Solutions values Lee at 1 Defensive Run Saved.<\/p>\n
Sports Info Solutions tracks Defensive Miscues and Good Fielding Plays, which are akin to web gems. Since April 21, Lee\u2019s 6 Good Fielding Plays are tops among all shortstops in baseball, per Mark Simon. During that span, he\u2019s made no errors or misplays.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think he really has stabilized,\u201d Shelton said. \u201cThere\u2019s been some challenges thrown out to him. I think (infield coach) Ramon Borrego has done a really good job with his work.\u201d<\/p>\n
Clemens has been particularly close to Lee since joining the Twins in April 2025. The two enjoy trash-talking one another, something that began last season during clubhouse table tennis tournaments.<\/p>\n
Clemens\u2019 support for Lee is unwavering, and he pushed especially hard for his friend when Lee moved to shortstop after Carlos Correa was traded in July.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe works so hard in all aspects of his game,\u201d Clemens said. \u201cHe\u2019s always hitting. He\u2019s always working out. He\u2019s always throwing. He\u2019s always taking ground balls or doing other work. \u2026 He wants it more than anybody. He has high expectations for himself. He\u2019s been doing it since Day One, trying to be what he wants to be. For him to come out and show what he\u2019s been doing for us has been great.\u201d<\/p>\n
None of Lee\u2019s recent efforts will mean much unless he sustains the level of defensive play he\u2019s produced over the past three weeks.<\/p>\n
Among shortstops, Lee is currently tied with Trea Turner and Xander Bogaerts as the second-worst in DRS. Only Seattle\u2019s J.P. Crawford is worse at minus-5. Kansas City\u2019s Bobby Witt leads all shortstops with plus-8 DRS.<\/p>\n
The Twins entered the season simply hoping Lee could play neutral defensively, or a tick above, as long as he finally established the offensive game that prompted Minnesota to select him with the eighth pick of the 2022 amateur draft.<\/p>\n
For nearly a month, Lee\u2019s hit better than ever. Over his last 28 games, he is batting .308\/.357\/.500 with five homers and 22 RBIs. On the season, Lee is carrying a .751 OPS, which equates to a career-best 110 weighted Runs Created Plus.<\/p>\n
With production like that, the Twins could potentially keep Lee at shortstop until a better defensive option comes along.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re seeing it on both sides of the ball,\u201d Shelton said. \u201cHe continues to become a complete player.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lee\u2019s hot streak at the plate began with a game-winning, pinch-hit single late in an April 9 win over Detroit. Asked which felt better, winning a game with his bat or his glove, Lee chose the defensive side.<\/p>\n
With all the work he\u2019s put in, Lee is feeling better about his defense. He\u2019s found a way to slow the game down and brush off the emotions that come with making web gems and mistakes, knowing he needs to remain focused for the next pitch.<\/p>\n
Most importantly, he\u2019s no longer playing scared.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was confident,\u201d Lee said. \u201cJust reminded myself you have time to think out there. I felt good in the moment. I\u2019m just making sure I\u2019m being aggressive. No matter what happens, you\u2019ve got to live with it. Might as well be courageous.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"CLEVELAND \u2014 A key reason Brooks Lee believes his defense is stabilizing, including a pair of game-saving plays…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":638383,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[65],"tags":[2326,363,99],"class_list":["post-638382","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mlb","tag-minnesota-twins","tag-mlb","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/638382","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=638382"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/638382\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/638383"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=638382"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=638382"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=638382"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}