While Brooks Lee has been knocking on the big league door pretty much since he returned from his back injury this year, it appeared that the only way that door would open right now is if someone went down on the Major League roster.

The good news is: Twins fans will get their first look at Lee, the club¡¯s No. 2 prospect (No. 13 on the Top 100), as he officially was called up for the first time on Wednesday. The bad news? The need arose because Royce Lewis is once again headed to the injured list with his groin issue.

Lee didn¡¯t have far to go in order to report to his new clubhouse, just 10 miles west of St. Paul, where the Triple-A Saints were hosting Gwinnett in International League action. The No. 8 pick in the 2022 Draft was thought to have one of the most advanced bats in his class, and he¡¯s done nothing but boost that reputation, reaching Triple-A in his first full season in 2023 and showing an incredible feeling for the strike zone and for finding the barrel ever since he started his pro career.

The only thing that held him back was a disc issue in his back, and he didn¡¯t make his 2024 debut until early June, something the Twins will likely continue to monitor closely. Lee has made adjustments to his workout and pre-game routines to help stay on the field. There isn¡¯t an exact plan in place, but expect Lee to get fairly regular playing time at third in place of Lewis. He¡¯s played just 10 games at the hot corner in his pro career, with nearly the rest coming at shortstop, but the son of Cal Poly coach Larry Lee has such tremendous instincts and baseball IQ that he¡¯ll handle the challenge of playing third in the big leagues without any problem. But it¡¯s his bat people really want to know about.

The Twins should expect a 23-year-old switch-hitter who will give very professional and competitive at-bats from the minute he steps into the box for the first time. He¡¯s hit .292/.364/.480 since signing and looked like he was on a mission upon returning to Triple-A after a 10-game rehab assignment this year, slashing .329/.394/.635 over 20 games before his callup. He¡¯s shown a propensity for contact throughout his two-plus years with the Twins, carrying a 15.4 percent strikeout rate (and a 10.1 percent walk rate) with him to Target Field.

And none of that is inflated by feasting off of lower-level pitchers. He began last year, his first full season, in Double-A, and with the exception of his rehab stint this year, he¡¯s only been at the upper levels. Over these two years, he¡¯s swung and missed only 23 percent of the time, a percentage that drops to 14 percent on fastballs. And, according to Synergy, he's posted a 1.001 OPS vs. heaters.

This year has been a small sample, but the data coming from Triple-A all confirms that Lee makes a lot of good, hard contact. His whiff rate in the strike zone this year has been just 13.9 percent, with the Triple-A average sitting at 18.5 percent. He continues to show that he will punish fastballs, slugging .750 against four-seamers.

The uptick in slugging has been perhaps the most interesting development. Lee is a hitter first, one who will never sell out for power but who has innately understood that it would come naturally as he matured and kept doing what he does. He¡¯s slugged .635 overall with St. Paul, with seven homers in just 94 plate appearances. One of the big reasons has been steps forward with his right-handed swing in particular, especially in the last couple of weeks. He¡¯s been impacting the ball much more consistently from that side and the numbers, again in a small sample, prove it: Lee had a .603 OPS hitting right-handed in 2023; in 2024, it¡¯s 1.121.

Assuming the power will show up right away as he gets his feet wet might be too much to ask, but whatever the surface numbers show, Lee will assuredly provide quality at-bats, see pitches, draw walks and limit strikeouts. He¡¯s the type of heady player who doesn¡¯t let the size of the situation take over his approach, so he should be able to stay within himself and be fairly productive.

One last word on the defense. It¡¯s been a little surprising that Lee has seen so much time at shortstop, but he¡¯s been solid enough there where he could stay there if needed. But the thought has always been that he could be a plus defender at third, something he¡¯ll get to prove starting now in Minnesota.