Now Twins' primary shortstop, Lee finally feels at home

MINNEAPOLIS -- Whenever he’s asked, Brooks Lee has dismissed the notion that moving around the diamond is a problem. He’s a ballplayer, Lee insists, and whether it’s second, third or shortstop, he’s fine.

It’s a commendable attitude, to be sure. But as he’s stepped in as the Twins’ primary shortstop following the trade of Carlos Correa, it’s clear that Lee feels at home in a way that maybe he never has in the Major Leagues. With Correa healthy and available, which he was for most of the year, Lee played mostly second base and some third. Now he’s unquestionably the primary shortstop.

Lee’s defense has been sound to very good. His at-bats have been more consistent, his approach more patient. And his results at the plate have taken off.

In Thursday afternoon’s 8-3 loss to the Athletics at Target Field, Lee’s streak of consecutive games with an extra-base hit came to an end, but it was still another encouraging showing. That’s because he drew two walks, and one major key for the second-year infielder is selectivity at the plate.

“If he’s able to defend himself, lay off the offspeed pitches that are out of the zone when they’re trying to get him to expand, he’s going to get good pitches to hit,” said manager Rocco Baldelli. “And when he does, he hasn’t missed them, and he’s hit them good. And then you start to really see the strength come out and the ability to get the barrel out and do a lot of positive things. He’s obviously feeling good. A lot of that is mindset and approach.”

Prior to Thursday, Lee had racked up at least one extra-base hit in six consecutive games. He’s drawn seven walks and struck out 11 times in August, easily his best ratio since April.

“I think it’s just getting the right pitch to hit, more specifically, which I think I’ve been doing a good job of that, being patient and laying off certain pitches,” Lee said. “They’re getting me in advantage counts, and then I’m taking good swings when I need to.”

And then there’s the defense. By any standard, shortstop is inherently the most difficult infield position to play, and one of the three most difficult positions on the field, along with catcher and center field.

Yet since Lee moved basically full-time to short, he’s playing defense at a higher level than at any previous point this season. According to Statcast’s outs above average metric, he’s rated at plus-2 at shortstop in August entering Thursday. He’s an even 0 at third base this year, and minus-3 at second base. And when he was only occasionally playing shortstop, he posted a rating of minus-2 from May through July.

There’s something to be said for finding your comfort zone.

“I’ve been playing as good of shortstop as I ever have,” Lee said. “Just continue to do that. I think I’m a good shortstop, so no reason not to. … [It’s] just working at it every single day, making sure my body is in the right spot when I go out to play. Just playing hard all nine innings and making sure I have the same amount of focus as I do from pitch one to pitch 100.”