The Minnesota Twins entered day one of the MLB Draft with picks 8, 48 and 68. The front office ended the night with shortstop Brooks Lee, starting pitcher Connor Prielipp and shortstop Tanner Schobel.

There was a consensus top-eight-to-10 players in this draft, and they were all hitters. However, the Texas Rangers took everyone by surprise, selecting Kumar Rocker. The Chicago Cubs even took a pitcher right before the Twins.

Minnesota was likely not going to take a pitcher, despite the current need at the big league level. The reality is these guys are not helping out the Twins this season or even next.

The front office took the best guy available at eight (in their opinion), and Lee is arguably the best hitter in this draft.

Let’s dive into each player and grade the picks:

Round 1, Pick 8: Brooks Lee, SS – Cal Poly

Lee is an offensive switch hitter who will have a lot of success in the minors and hopefully, the big leagues.

The shortstop had hamstring and knee surgery in 2020, but he’s been on another level offensively since then.

• 2021: .342/.384/.626, 10 HR, 57 RBI, 18 BB, 34 SO, 1.010 OPS
• 2022: .357/.462/.664, 15 HR, 55 RBI, 46 BB, 28 SO, 1.125 OPS

The most impressive stat with Lee is his walk-to-strikeout rate. The fact that he’s taken more walks than Ks is extremely impressive. Lee has a strikeout rate of only 10 percent.

He’s only going to get stronger and develop as a hitter. He provides pop from either side of the plate and could become a 20-25 home run hitter in the MLB.

His offense is elite, but what about his defense?

He’s currently listed as a shortstop, but he likely ends up at third base because of his arm strength. Jose Miranda could be the long-term play at third, but Lee looks to be the best bet at that position moving forward.

Grade: A

Round 2, Pick 48: Connor Prielipp, SP – Alabama

This is a great pickup in the second round. Entering the year, Prielipp was viewed as a potential No. 1 pick in the draft. However, his season was cut short, and he only pitched seven innings due to Tommy John surgery.

There’s always a concern with any major injury, but when fully healthy, Prielipp is one of the best in the game.

Minnesota needs more left-handed pitching, and to get Prielipp in the second round is great value. He utilizes three pitches but relies heavily on his slider. The way that pitch breaks is deadly, and he’ll rack up a lot of strikeouts.

His fastball is his other best pitch, which peaks at 95 MPH.

Prielipp has great command of the ball and will get a lot of swings and misses. When fully healthy, he can easily become a No. 1 or 2 starter in the Twins’ starting rotation.

Grade: A+

Competitive Balance – B, Pick 68: Tanner Schobel – Virginia Tech

The Twins took two shortstops with their first three picks? Don’t they know they have Royce Lewis and hopefully Carlos Correa long-term?

Yes, but Lee looks like he’ll become a third baseman, and Schobel will probably play second base. Jorge Polanco will eventually regress, and having a backup plan in Schobel isn’t such a bad thing.

Schobel showed a lot of improvement last season at Virginia Tech. In 2021, he hit .279 with an OPS of .800. However, last season he hit .362, with 19 home runs, and posted an OPS of 1.134.

Power is something that may not come naturally to him, but you have to be encouraged with those numbers. MLB.com graded his power at 45, which isn’t great.

Long-term it’s hard to figure out where he’ll end up. Schobel does just about everything at an average level. He’s not the best hitter, nor does he have the strongest arm, but that’s not always such a bad thing. You could look at it as if there’s no real weakness in his game.

Grade: C+