MLB Draft: Brooks, Drew Have a Chance to Make Mustang History

BROOKS LEE INTERVIEWS -- KSBY-TV1 | KSBY-TV2 | KCOY-TV
THE SPECTRUM STORY ON DREW THORPE (subscription required)
THE TRIBUNE STORY ON BROOKS LEE (subscription required)
TRIBUNE VIDEO INTERVIEWS -- BROOKS LEE | DREW THORPE
HAROLD REYNOLDS INTERVIEWS THE LEES ON MLB NETWORK
MASN (Baltimore Orioles Radio) INTERVIEW WITH BROOKS LEE

SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. -- Brooks Lee and Drew Thorpe were dormmates with two others in the yakitutu housing complex on the Cal Poly campus a year ago.

They lived together in an off-campus house during the recently completed 2021-22 school year.

They were roommates on Cal Poly baseball road trips the last two years.

On Sunday, they could be together once again, this time in the Mustang record book marking the first time that two Cal Poly baseball players were selected in the first two rounds of the same Major League Baseball Draft.

The draft will be held in Los Angeles, site of next Tuesday's All-Star Game. Two rounds along with the compensatory and competitive balance rounds will be completed Sunday, with rounds three through 10 on Monday and the remaining 10 rounds Tuesday. The Baltimore Orioles have the No. 1 pick, followed by the Arizona Diamondbacks, Texas Rangers, Pittsburgh Pirates and Washington Nationals.

On two occasions, a pair of Cal Poly players were drafted in the first three rounds in the same year. In 2007, outfielder Grant Desme was selected in the second round by the Oakland Athletics while pitcher Evan Reed was chosen by the Texas Rangers in the third round. A year later, both third baseman Brent Morel (Chicago White Sox) and outfielder Logan Schafer (Milwaukee Brewers) were taken in the third round.

Lee has been working and waiting for this moment ever since his freshman year at San Luis Obispo High School in 2016. The third-year Cal Poly shortstop could have entered the draft in 2019 out of high school, predicted as a late first-round pick by several media outlets and ranked as the 38th best prospect. Instead, Brooks pulled his name out, turned down what surely would have been a lucrative contract, some say around $3 million, and honored his commitment, which he made early in his prep career, to play for his father, Larry Lee, at Baggett Stadium.

Drew, a right-hander who was in the Mustangs' weekend rotation from the get-go in 2020, did not get very many looks from Division I schools as a senior in 2019 nor was he drafted despite posting a combined 16-2 win-loss record in his last two varsity seasons at Desert Hills High School in St. George, Utah.

Both Brooks and Drew, naturally, participated together among over 250 other prospects in the second MLB Draft Combine at Petco Park in San Diego in mid-June.

That could be the final time the two are together -- at least until their paths cross in the major or minor leagues. Tune in Sunday at 4 p.m. on the MLB Network or ESPN to find out where their first stop as professional baseball players might be.

Living and/or rooming together for the last three years more than likely contributed to their success individually as well as for the team.

"Both of us -- he was kind of the leader of the offense and I was the leader of the pitching staff — just worked together and tried to make our team as best as possible this past year and it was super fun," Thorpe said. "We worked a lot over the summer and fall to take the next step from last year to this year."

Lee, the head coach, says the two are similar in their competitive nature and drive to win, citing the younger Brooks being the more vocal of the two.

"They rub off on each other," said Lee. "If you're a part of the team that they're on as a player, you need to figure out how to be more like them or have the same competitiveness and desire as they do. They are laser-focused on winning baseball games."

Brooks Lee

Slotted as a top-five pick by most prognosticators -- MLB.com says No. 5, Keith Law of The Athletics predicts No. 4, CBS Sports and Athlon Sports posits No. 2, ESPN MLB Insider Kiley McDaniel and Baseball America suggest No. 7 and BaseballProspectJournal.com has him at No. 3 -- Brooks will be watching the draft from his parents' living room couch on Sunday.

Brooks has a lifelong connection with the Orioles -- he was named after Hall of Fame third baseman Brooks Robinson, an 18-time All-Star and 16-time Gold Glove winner nicknamed the vacuum cleaner at the hot corner.

The Orioles are not tipping their hand as to who they will draft.

Said Baltimore's executive vice president and general manager Mike Elias, "I don't think we're going to really get much closer to narrowing things until the day of the draft. I'm being very frank about it that the short list that we have that's five players long, I feel like we're going to carry that for the next week up until the draft day because we don't expect there's going to be a broad consensus in every corner of the organization of who to take."

According to his draft profile on MLB.com, Brooks "was a well-regarded prospect out of the California high school ranks, but wasn't taken until the 35th round because scouts knew he wanted to go play for his father.

"After missing nearly all of the shortened 2020 season following knee and hamstring surgeries, Lee came back in 2021 to earn co-Big West Player of the Year honors by hitting .342/384/.626. He further solidified his bona fides as one of the top college bats in the class by hitting very well both for Team USA and in the Cape Cod League last summer, then showed he was the best college hitter in this class in 2022.

"Talk to any scout about the switch-hitting infielder and the first thing that comes up are his otherworldly bat-to-ball skills. He almost never strikes out and has made consistent hard contact everywhere he's been, including his 21-game stretch with a wood bat on the Cape, where he hit .405/.432/.667 with six homers in just 84 at-bats. He can drive the ball from both sides of the plate and. as he's gotten more physical, it's easy to project him having better-than-average power in the future.

"That physicality will mean he's very likely to move off of shortstop at the next level, with third the most likely destination to take advantage of his above-average arm. As the son of a coach, he thinks like one on the field and plays like a veteran, giving more certainty that he's going to maximize all of his tools as a pro."

Brooks earned five All-America awards since the 2022 season ended, including first-team nods from Collegiate Baseball and the American Baseball Coaches Association. He was a first-team pick on two of the six All-American teams in 2021 as well.

Named winner of the Brooks Wallace Award as the nation's top collegiate shortstop last month, Brooks hit .357 in his second full season at Cal Poly with 25 doubles, 15 home runs and 55 RBIs. He led the Big West in hits, walks, doubles, home runs, runs scored, RBIs, slugging percentage and total bases and was second in batting average and on-base percentage.

Fifth in the nation in doubles, Lee produced hitting streaks of 19 and 12 games in 2022 and led the Mustangs with 26 multiple-hit games and 16 multiple-RBI contests, becoming only the second player in Big West history to earn the conference's field player of the year award twice. Mark Kotsay accomplished the same feat in 1995 and 1996.

Also a semifinalist for the Golden Spikes Award and Dick Howser Trophy this spring, the Brooks Wallace Award winner as the nation's top shortstop produced numerous memorable moments as a Mustang, including two grand slams, both against Cal State Fullerton in 2021 and 2022, breaking the single-season doubles record last year and his one and only four-hit game versus Harvard in early April.

Brooks, however, recalls his first hit as a Mustang as his top Mustang highlight -- a two-run pinch-hit double against Baylor after recovering from a serious offseason leg injury that required surgery to repair. The 2020 season was shut down four days after the hit due to the pandemic.

Drew Thorpe

While the spotlight has been directed primarily toward Brooks ever since he donned a Cal Poly uniform in 2020, Drew has quietly but steadily improved his game during his three seasons as a Mustang.

Thorpe had a breakout year in 2022 with a 10-1 record, 2.32 ERA and 144 strikeouts, No. 2 in the nation. The Washington, Utah, native also will watch the draft from his parents' home near St. George, knowing that several scouts peg him as a potential first- or second-round selection.

"It is exciting," Drew told BaseballProspectJournal.com. "I never really thought I would be in the position I am now. I will worry about the draft when it comes. But it is really rewarding and pretty exciting."

Though he was a three-time all-region selection and played on a state championship team, Drew went undrafted out of Desert Hills High School in St. George, Utah. Drew posted a 7-1 record and 1.93 ERA with 67 strikeouts over 51 1/3 innings as a senior in 2019. Playing shortstop when not pitching, he also hit .390 and led Desert Hills to the Utah state 4A title and a 27-3 overall record.

When Drew first arrived at Cal Poly, head coach Larry Lee wasn't quite sure where to put him.

"We didn't know exactly what we had when Drew showed up," Lee told Sean Ellertson of The Spectrum in St. George. "We didn't know if he was a position player or a pitcher. We didn't know if he was a third baseman, catcher, or a pitcher. We just briefly looked at him as a position player."

Lee says the first time he saw Thorpe throw a bullpen, he noticed how strong Thorpe's changeup was.

That changeup would quickly become Thorpe's calling card.

"Right at that moment, I thought that he had an opportunity to be a pitcher," Lee said.

Drew's first career start as a Mustang was against defending national champion and preseason No. 1 Vanderbilt at the 2020 MLB4 Tournament in Scottsdale, Ariz. In the seven-inning no-decision -- Cal Poly rallied for two runs in the ninth for a 9-8 victory -- Thorpe struck out six and allowed two runs and four hits. The following weekend, Drew struck out 13 against BYU for his first collegiate victory.

Drew went on to strike out 284 batters over 223 innings in his first three Mustang seasons, reaching double digits in strikeouts 13 times, including a record-tying school Division I mark with 15 strikeouts against UC San Diego last March. His 284 career strikeouts is No. 4 in the school record book.

Kyle Glaser of Baseball America covered Drew's start against UC Riverside in late April.

"In a year where the top college pitchers have been dropping left and right with injuries, Thorpe has provided a welcome blend of health, consistency and performance," wrote Glaser. "He completed at least six innings in all but one of his 15 starts and struck out at least 10 batters nine times this season, including a 15-strikeout game on March 25 at UC San Diego.

"He entered the spring considered one of the best college pitchers on the West Coast, with most evaluators projecting him to settle into the third or fourth round of the draft. He's exceeded those expectations by leaps and bounds, combining a three-pitch mix, plus control and exceptional durability to push himself into consideration among the top 50 picks. The Mets and A's, who hold the 52nd and 56th overall picks, respectively, were among the teams who sent multiple evaluators—including high-ranking executives—to watch Thorpe's latest start at Riverside.

"Thorpe's changeup was already considered one of the best in the country entering the season and his velocity is largely the same from a year ago. What changed is his slider. Previously a fringe-average offering he rarely used, he altered his grip and throwing mechanics and now boasts an above-average slider, giving him the needed third pitch to succeed as a starter at higher levels."

As the Sunday starter in 2020, Drew was 1-1 with a 3.21 ERA in four starts before the season was shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic. He struck out 31 batters over 28 innings.

Drew moved into the Friday slot for his second Mustang season and finished 6-6 with a 3.79 ERA and 104 strikeouts over 90 1/3 innings. As the team's Friday starter again this spring, Drew produced 14 consecutive quality starts after a no-decision in the season opener against Washington, a game in which he struck out 11 but allowed four runs in a 6-5 loss.

Thorpe finished his third season at Cal Poly second in the nation with 149 strikeouts, third in hits allowed per nine innings (5.59), sixth in WHIP (0.86), 10th in wins (10). 13th in strikeouts per nine innings (12.81), 17th with his 2.32 ERA and 24th in strikeout-to-walk ratio (5.96).

"I think it all started with a slight change in mechanics, trying to keep his front side closed as long as possible and not scap(ula) pinch as much," head coach Larry Lee said of Drew's breakout season. "That just led to a better fastball and a byproduct of that was it allowed him to get on top of his slider and have more of a vertical break to it."

Drew also added a third pitch to his repertoire while pitching in the Cape Cod League and for Team USA in the summer of 2021.

"Fastball and changeup were pretty much my main weapons last year, and then just adding that third pitch, another swing-and-miss pitch, another out pitch, really helped me this year," Thorpe told The Spectrum. "I think that's pretty much where most of my success lied throughout this year was just having all three of those pitches and all three being swing-and-miss pitches."

Added Lee, "Going into the season this year, he had three quality pitches, which makes it extremely difficult for hitters to have success. His mindset was to strike everybody out and, when you have a swing-and-miss pitch as opposed to two swing-and-miss pitches, that's a great attribute to have and that's what he did."

Drew was named to all six All-America first teams this spring, becoming the first Mustang to accomplish the feat. Brooks made five of the six All-America teams both in 2021 and 2022.

"I am a lot different player than three years ago," Drew said. "I have developed a lot here because I was more of a two-way guy who didn't know what he would do. Now, I have pitched a lot of innings for the program. It has been a great fit for me."

Drew produced a lengthy highlight reel during his days as a Mustang, including a school Division I record-tying 15-strikeout performance against UC San Diego, a three-hit shutout versus Harvard and coming within one out of a five-hit shutout at UC Riverside, all this past spring, and the win over BYU in 2020.

Drew added one more:

"Lastly, getting to spend three years in the best town, and getting to meet teammates who will now be lifelong best friends. Going to battle each and every day with all of them is something I will look back on and remember forever."

Drew was one of five finalists for National Pitcher of the Year and, like Brooks, was a semifinalist for both the Dick Howser Trophy and Golden Spikes Award. He is Cal Poly's first Big West Conference Pitcher of the Year.

"He's got a chance to have a very successful and long career because I've seen his development over three years and there's no signs with him not continuing to develop and grow as a pitcher," Larry Lee said of Drew.

Both Brooks and Drew were freshman All-Americans in 2021, Cal Poly's first in four years.

Draft History

Catcher John Orton is Cal Poly's highest draft pick in program history, chosen by the then-California Angels as the 25th overall selection in 1987.

Both outfielder Mitch Haniger (38th overall selection, Brewers, 2012) and southpaw Garrett Olson (48th, Orioles, 2005) were compensatory picks.

Cal Poly's three second-round draftees were southpaw Spencer Howard (45th overall selection, Phillies, 2017), Matt Imhof (47th overall selection, Phillies, 2014) and outfielder Grant Desme (74th, Athletics, 2007).

The number of rounds in the draft, which was first held in 1965, originally was open-ended until all teams passed. It was shortened to 50 rounds in 1998 and to 40 rounds in 2012. The 2020 draft was reduced to just five rounds due to the COVID-19 pandemic and was limited to 20 rounds in 2021 and this year.

While the order of the draft since its inception was determined through the previous season's standings with the team possessing the worst record receiving the first pick, the latest collective bargaining agreement signed earlier this year calls for a lottery starting in 2023 involving the 18 non-playoff teams, which will determine the first six picks of the first round, followed by the previous year's final standings for the remaining 24 spots. For each succeeding round, the win-loss records for the non-playoff teams will determine the first 18 spots followed by the playoff finishes of the 12 teams in the posteason.

Cal Poly has had 162 players selected in the MLB Draft, including nine who were drafted twice. A total of 44 Mustangs have been drafted in the first 10 rounds, including pitcher Jimmy Shull twice. Twenty former Cal Poly players have reached the Major Leagues, the last 11 under Larry Lee in his 20 seasons at the helm of the Mustangs.

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