Twins Move Brooks Lee To Third Base

Lee’s time at shortstop has ended, with the Twins assigning him to third base after Royce Lewis was demoted to Triple-A St. Paul. Lee had played shortstop in college at Cal Poly, but scouting concerns existed about his ability to stay at the position. In 2024-25, he logged 803 innings at short without strong defensive results. With Carlos Correa traded away, Lee had an opening to claim shortstop, but he produced only average offensive output and received negative defensive metrics. His batting improved after a slow start, and he has recorded multiple hits in recent games since moving to third. The change also affects short-term playing time for Kaelen Culpepper and raises questions about Lewis’ long-term role.

"The Twins' experiment with at shortstop has apparently run its course. The former No. 8 overall pick has been playing third base since Royce Lewis' demotion to Triple-A St. Paul, and manager Derek Shelton told the Twins beat this week that Lee's defensive home moving forward will be the hot corner ( link via Bobby Nightengale of the Minnesota Star Tribune)."

"Lee was a shortstop in college at Cal Poly, but scouting reports questioned whether he'd be able to stick there even back at the time of the draft. He logged 803 innings at short in 2024-25 and didn't grade especially well there. For much of that time, he was focusing on multiple positions because the Twins also had Carlos Correa signed long-term. Last July's trade sending Correa back to Houston freed up a potential long-term opportunity at shortstop."

"Lee, 25, entered the year with a legitimate opportunity to seize the position. It hasn't happened. He's delivered a solid .259/.315/.416 batting line (105 wRC+) in 201 trips to the plate, but he's been dinged with negative grades from Defensive Runs Saved (-8) and Outs Above Average (-1). The switch-hitter's bat has come to life after a slow start - .292/.344/.460 in his past 123 plate appearances - and he'll try to keep that momentum going at a different position."

"Lee's move to third base creates some short-term opportunity for one of the organization's best prospects and also raises some long-term questions about Lewis' role within the organization. Kaelen Culpepper, Minnesota's first-round pick in 2024, is currently a consensus top-100 prospect. He had a slow start to his season in Triple-A but has heated up with a .266/.392/.557 slash this month - all while walking nearly as often (14.4%) as he's struck out (1"

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