The Minnesota Twins have a 3-5 record after the first eight games of the 2025 MLB regular season. Early struggles can partly be explained by an Opening Day roster that wasn’t fully healthy.
Randy Dobnak joined the team in St. Louis after Brock Stewart was placed on the injured list near the end of Spring Training. Louie Varland was added to the Twins’ bullpen following Michael Tonkin’s injury, which also landed him on the IL.
On the position player side, their top young infielders, Brooks Lee (dealing with a lumbar strain) and Royce Lewis (recovering from a hamstring strain), remained in Florida to continue healing from injuries sustained during the Grapefruit League.
Brooks Lee starting rehab assignment for Minnesota Twins
Both first-round shortstops are expected to return before summer begins, but their timelines differ. Brooks Lee has already made his comeback, playing his first rehab game on Sunday with the Fort Myers Mighty Mussels. He went 0-for-3 with two strikeouts.
Although he didn’t record a hit, Lee played all seven scheduled innings at shortstop without any problems. Despite the lack of offensive success, this marks a very encouraging first step in his journey back to the majors.
The Minnesota Twins hoped Brooks Lee would earn the second base job this spring, but they weren’t rushing to give it to him, unlike with Royce Lewis (more on him shortly). Although Lee started last season on the injured list as well, he quickly indicated that this injury was not as severe as last year’s herniated disc.