SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. -- Brooks Lee is Cal Poly's highest draft pick ever.
The Minnesota Twins selected the third-year Mustang shortstop as their eighth pick in the 2022 Major League Draft on Sunday.
Only three more former Mustangs were selected in the first round, including catcher John Orton, who was selected by the California Angels in 1987 with the 25th overall pick.
Both pitcher Garrett Olson (48th, Orioles, 2005) and outfielder Mitch Haniger (38th overall, Brewers, 2012) were compensatory first-round selections.
The signing bonus value awarded to the eighth pick in this year's draught is $5,439.500.
Lee said it has been a difficult journey to get to where he is now, suffering injuries that forced him to miss his sophomore season of high school as well as the majority of his first year at Cal Poly. He was watching television with family and friends from his parent's house in the Edna Valley.
When Lee heard his name, he stated, "I had an amazing feeling." "I'm ecstatic, especially since my family and many members of my support system from the community were present. It was an excellent encounter.
Lee said, "Getting drafted feels wonderful. "I am grateful to get the opportunity to play at the next level since I have put in all the work, more than anybody else."
His father, head coach of Cal Poly Larry Lee, said, "It was quite emotional, but I am really thrilled for him. He may now begin a new chapter in his career.
The coach said, "He's put in a huge lot of effort across the entire time period, starting when he was very young through his adolescent years, high school, and college. "He converted a serious injury he sustained in his freshman year into a positive by becoming stronger and has a passion for the game, how the game is played and plays to win, which is tremendously crucial," said one coach.
Prior to the draught, the father and son had not heard anything from Minnesota.
According to Brooks Lee, "I guess they were kind of thinking I wouldn't get to them.
According to Larry Lee, "It was one of the teams where there really wasn't a lot of communication as the process went on." "I simply rejoice for him. He may now carry on with what he was doing in the hopes of soon having the opportunity to play in the Major League.
Yes, Larry Lee said, "I was astonished. "Behind the scenes, sometimes you know a few days before to the draught, sometimes the morning of the draught, but Brooks' adviser claimed he really had no sense for how the draught would go and absolutely no feel for Minnesota.
"Minnesota now has a solid foundation on which to develop. Brooks has the potential to accomplish something exceptional, and he will never be content with his achievements as a player "the father added. "That is an indication of someone who aspires to greatness.
The draught today has been the culmination of a very emotional journey for our family.
We're all delighted and are now aware of the organization he will join. As soon as possible, he wants to start playing again on the field."
The All-Star Game, which will take place on Tuesday at Dodger Stadium, and the draught are both taking place at XBox Plaza in Los Angeles.
The first two rounds, the compensatory and competitive balance rounds, will be finished on Sunday. Rounds three through ten will be finished on Monday, and the last ten rounds will be finished on Tuesday. The Arizona Diamondbacks, Texas Rangers, Pittsburgh Pirates, and Washington Nationals were the teams selected after the Baltimore Orioles in order of priority. Since his first year at San Luis Obispo High School in 2016, Lee has been preparing for this day. The third-year Cal Poly shortstop, who was projected by multiple media outlets to be selected in the late first round and was regarded as the 38th best prospect, may have declared for the 2019 draught out of high school.
Instead, Brooks withdrew his name, declined what is said to have been a lucrative deal worth roughly $3 million, and kept the promise he made to play for his father, Larry Lee, at Baggett Stadium early in his prep career. Despite withdrawing from the draught, the San Francisco Giants selected Brooks in the 35th round.
Most experts predict that Brooks will go in the top five picks; D1Baseball.com ranked him first among college players, MLB.com projects him to go in at No. 5, Keith Law of The Athletics projects him to go in at No. 4, CBS Sports, Athlon Sports, and ESPN MLB Insider Kiley McDaniel project him to go in at No. 2, and BaseballProspectJournal.com projects him to go in at No. 3. Brooks will be watching the draught
Brooks has a lengthy history with the Orioles since he is named after Hall of Fame third baseman Brooks Robinson, who was known as the vacuum cleaner at the hot corner and was an 18-time All-Star.
Since the 2022 season concluded, Brooks has won five All-America honors, including first-team selections from Collegiate Baseball and the American Baseball Coaches Association. He was also a first-team selection on two of the six 2021 All-American teams.
Brooks Wallace was named last month as the greatest collegiate shortstop in the country. In his second full season at Cal Poly, Brooks hit.357 with 25 doubles, 15 home runs, and 55 RBIs. He finished second in batting average and on-base percentage but first in hits, walks, doubles, home runs, runs scored, RBIs, slugging %, and total bases in the Big West.
Lee, who led the Mustangs with 26 multiple-hit games and 16 multiple-RBI games in 2022 and finished fifth in the country in doubles, is only the second player in Big West history to win the conference's field player of the year honor twice. In 1995 and 1996, Mark Kotsay accomplished the same feat.
After undergoing knee and hamstring operations, Brooks missed almost all of the pandemic-shortened 2020 season. However, he returned to play in 2021 and was named the co-Big West Player of the Year after hitting.342 with 10 home runs, 57 RBIs, and a school record of 27 doubles. By hitting exceptionally effectively for Team USA and in the Cape Cod League last summer, he further established his credentials as one of the top collegiate batters in the class.
As a Mustang, Brooks produced many noteworthy moments, including two grand slams against Cal State Fullerton in 2021 and 2022, breaking the single-season doubles record in 2017, and his one and the only four-hit game against Harvard in early April. He was also a semifinalist for the Golden Spikes Award and Dick Howser Trophy this spring.
However, Brooks cites his first hit as a Mustang as his favorite Mustang moment, a pinch-hit double against Baylor that scored two runs after Brooks had recovered from a severe leg ailment that needed surgery in the summer. Four days after the epidemic hit, the 2020 season was canceled.
The only three draught picks from Cal Poly in the second round were pitcher Spender Howard (45th overall, Phillies, 2017), left-handed pitcher Matt Imhof (47th, Phillies, 2014), and outfielder Grant Desme (74th, Athletics, 2007).
In the MLB Draft, 162 players from Cal Poly were chosen, including nine who were picked twice. In the first 10 rounds, 44 Mustangs were selected, with pitcher Jimmy Shull being selected twice. Twenty former Cal Poly players have made it to the Major Leagues; the last 11 of those players played for Larry Lee's Mustangs during his 20 seasons as head coach.
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