Brooks Lee goes hit-less in loss to Royals

Lee was responsible for the only run for the Twins as Minnesota was swept by San Diego over the weekend. The 25-year-old is now up to 20 homers on the season with 69 RBI and a relatively-solid .735 OPS.

Lee hit one of three homers off Casey Mize before Mize exited due to injury, and he also doubled and singled. The former first-round selection has put together a solid -- albeit unspectacular -- season in 2026 with 19 homers, 68 RBI and a .729 OPS. Keep in mind that Lee is still just 25 until February, so there’s a chance that we haven’t seen the best version of the infielder just yet.

Lee connected for a grand slam off Andrew Painter in the bottom of the first, but Minnesota could only muster one more run the rest of the way. The 25-year-old infielder is up to 18 homers and seven stolen bases on the year, but he entered Sunday with a league-average batting line. The former first-round pick will likely need to show sustained improvement by the end of 2027 to remain part of the team’s future core. It’s notable that he shifted from shortstop to third base earlier this summer.

Lee took advantage of Jacob Misiorowski losing some velocity in his last two innings of work today and homered off a 99.4-mph fastball in the fifth. He almost got him again in the sixth, hitting a 95.8-mph cutter 365 feet to right, but it was caught by a leaping Luis Lara. Statcast said it would have been a homer in 15 ballparks.

The Twins entered the eighth inning trailing 3-1 but pulled a bit closer as Josh Bell smacked an RBI single off of Aaron Bummer. Two batters later, Lee strolled to the dish with the bases loaded against Nate Pearson and shot a two-run single into right field to put the Twins ahead to stay. He finished the day 1-for-4 and is now hitting .240/.298/.414 with 16 homers and 60 RBI in 444 plate appearances on the season.

Minnesota also got solo shots from Royce Lewis and Ryan Jeffers. At 97.1 mph off the bat, Lee’s homer fell a little short of qualifying as a barrel, but that’s not unusual for him. In fact, he has just 12 barrels despite collecting 16 homers this year. His exit velocity numbers suggest he should be doing quite a bit worse than his current .244/.302/.423 line, but the Twins don’t need anyone telling him that.

Lee had a monster game here in a big win for his Twins. He helped get a rally churning with a run-scoring single in the third inning and broke this game open with a three-run homer in the fourth. That long ball was especially painful for the Guardians since it came after an error let that inning get to Lee. Overall, he’s been solid in an everyday role this season with a .254 batting average, .746 OPS, 15 home runs, and 56 RBI. Those power numbers are already approaching his totals from last season in 41 fewer games.

Lee continues to produce. His second double of this game cut the Angels’ lead to 4-2 and put the tying runs in scoring position with just one out. The Twins would push one more run across, but sadly never tie this game back up. Nevertheless, Lee has kept his head above water all season with a .744 OPS to go along with 14 home runs and five stolen bases as we approach the All-Star break.

Lee was a pest this game. First, he ignited a rally in the third with a single that helped spur a three-run inning against Shohei Ohtani. Then, he continued to find his way on base and was stranded twice in scoring position with the Twins trailing by just one run. Regardless, he’s maintained near league average production all season while splitting time at shortstop and third base.

Lee brought a run home on a groundout in the third inning, then later started a four-run sixth inning with a solo homer off Michael Wacha. The 25-year-old infielder is having a solid season with the Twins, hitting .247/.300/.420 with nine homers, 27 runs scored, and 37 RBI across 238 plate appearances.