MLB prospect Brooks Lee will miss start of Cal Poly’s baseball season with leg injury
Cal Poly’s top baseball recruit — the former San Luis Obispo High School star who turned down a projected multi-million dollar signing bonus to play for his father — is recovering from a serious leg injury that’s expected to keep him out of the first month and a half of the season.
The Mustangs’ freshman shortstop Brooks Lee, who graduated in 2019, was a projected first-round Major League Baseball draft pick.
But before his collegiate career even got started, Lee was injured in mid-October while running out a ground ball in a preseason tune-up game.
Now, he’s is on the mend after undergoing surgery to repair a torn lateral collateral ligament and biceps femoris, which forms part of the hamstring muscle group.
Cal Poly Coach Larry Lee, Brooks’ father, said it’s a “rare injury” that doctors don’t tend to treat often, and, as a result, they sought out a prominent Los Angeles sports medicine group that specializes in orthopedics for athletes.
Larry Lee, who’s entering his 18th year at the helm at Cal Poly, said his son stumbled sprinting to first, tried to regain his balance, and hyper-extended his leg.
Brooks Lee had surgery on Oct. 31, after consulting doctors Kerlan-Jobe Clinic who have treated Los Angeles Rams players and other pro athletes in the Los Angeles area; doctors projected a six-month recovery for Brooks, Larry Lee said.
“It’s disappointing,” the coach said. “I’ve looked forward to many years of coaching him. It’s emotional for all of us when this first happened. But we’ve been able to have him focus on upper body (weight training) in the meantime, and he’s well-ahead of schedule on the rehab.”
Brooks Lee projected to return for Big West play
Larry Lee said he hopes to have his son back on the field before Big West Conference play starts in April.
But for now, the younger Lee will be limited to rehab work and learning what he can watching from the bench when the season opens next week against some of the top competition in the country.
Brooks Lee will miss the Mustangs’ matchup against reigning national champion Vanderbilt, runner-up Michigan and NCAA regional qualifier UConn from Feb. 14-16 at Salt River Fields in Scottsdale, Arizona — in addition to other non-conference games against top collegiate programs such as Baylor, Oklahoma and Stanford.
“I was hoping he would be able to play against those schools in the early part of the season,” Larry Lee said.
His bat will be missed as the Mustangs try to rebound from the program’s worst offensive season in its 25-year history. The team posted an overall .260 batting average with 13 home runs and 217 run batted in but still finished finished second in the Big West last year.
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“I know the team’s offense was down last year, but I think we have a solid incoming class and returners,” Brooks Lee said. “I just hope to get out there as soon as I can.”
A star at SLO High
Brooks Lee hit .437 over his career for the SLO High Tigers, and starred in the Area Code Games that matches up top California players in summer league contests.
The shortstop was selected as a first-team Collegiate Baseball High School All-American and third-team Baseball America All-American.
Lee was slated to be picked within the top 50, with the MLB Draft Tracker ranking him as the 37th best available player. The 37th pick by the Pittsburgh Pirates, high school outfielder Sammy Siani, signed for $2.15 million, according to The Tribune-Review in Pittsburgh.
“I am not looking back,” Brooks Lee told The Tribune on Tuesday. “I love SLO. I’m really enjoying being in college. I was always in the dugout here as a kid and know the program so well, and it will be great to finally get out there.”
Brooks Lee said that he has begun to take limited fielding and batting practice as he continues to work with a physical therapist in SLO.
Cal Poly coach tells son to stay on track with fundamentals
Larry Lee said that his son, whom he trained to be a switch hitter, wasn’t a natural star growing up and that he had to mature mentally and physically.
“I was telling him all the same things at the age of 4 that I was telling my college guys,” Larry Lee said. “But he wasn’t able to understand it and put it all together until he got older. He was kind of squatty, a catcher, as a kid. And he always had good hands, but his footwork wasn’t there. Then he grew about seven inches and really came into his own. It all started to come together for him, and his feet started working with his hands.”
Lee said that he has advised his son not to worry about the money or status that comes with professional baseball and to stay on track with his development and fundamentals. Collegiate baseball players aren’t eligible for the draft until after their junior season or are at least 21 years old.
“He’s on track with where he needs to be,” Lee said. “He just needs to keep progressing. Keep working at it. It’s good not to have always been the best growing up. It’s good to face adversity.”
Larry Lee, a SLO High and Pepperdine standout who played in the minor leagues in the 1980s, ended his career in the Seattle Mariners’ organization.
With Brooks Lee idle until the start of Big West play, Nick Marinconz is expected to move over from third base to fill in when the 2020 season starts.
Larry Lee said he’s still pondering how his lineup will look and is trying out players at different positions to field his best group.
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