Lee Selected Eighth Overall, Thorpe 61st in 2022 Major League Draft
7/17/2022 5:46:00 PM | Baseball
SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. -- Brooks Lee is Cal Poly's highest draft pick ever.
On Sunday, the third-year Mustang shortstop was the eighth player selected in the 2022 Major League Draft, chosen by the Minnesota Twins.
Only three other former Mustangs were drafted in the first round, led by catcher John Orton, 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 first-round picks.
The eighth selection in this year's draft has an assigned signing bonus value of $5,439,500.
Another program milestone was reached when pitcher Drew Thrope was selected in the second round, 61st overall pick, by the New York Yankees. That gave Cal Poly picks in the first two rounds of a single draft for the first time.
Watching television with family and friends from his parents' house in the Edna Valley, Lee said it has been a long process to get to where he is today, overcoming injuries that forced him to miss his sophomore season in high school as well as most of his first year at Cal Poly.
"The feeling was awesome when I heard my name," Lee said. "I'm super excited, especially because my family was with me along with a lot of people who were part of my community base. It was a great experience.
"It feels great to get drafted," Lee added. "I have put in all the work, more than anyone else, so I'm grateful to have the opportunity to play at the next level."
"It was very emotional, but I am very happy for him, added his father, Cal Poly head coach Larry Lee. "Now he can get started on another chapter in his career.
"He's put in a tremendous amount of work throughout the whole time frame, starting when he was very young through his teenager years, high school and college," added the coach. "He turned a major injury in his freshman year into a positive by getting stronger and has a passion for the game, how the game is played and plays to win which is extremely important."
The father and son had not heard much from Minnesota prior to the draft.
"I think they were kind of assuming I wouldn't get to them," said Brooks Lee.
"It was one of the teams that there just wasn't a lot of communication as the process went on," added Larry Lee. "I'm just happy for him. Now he can go out and continue to do what he does and hopefully get a chance to play at the Major League level in a short period of time."
Yes, I was surprised," Larry Lee added. "Behind the scenes, sometimes you know a few days before the draft, sometimes the morning of, but Brooks' advisor said he really had no feel of how the draft would go and absolutely no feel about Minnesota.
"Minnesota got somebody they can build around. Brooks has a chance to do something special and he's never going to be satisfied with what he has done as a player," said the father. "That's a sign of someone who wants to be great.
"As a family, it's been a very emotional ride, culminating with today's draft. We're all happy and now we know what organization he's going to be in. He wants to get on the field as soon as possible and start playing again."
Thorpe also was watching the draft from his parents' living room in Washington, Utah, just outside St. George.
"It's pretty surreal," Thorpe said. "Emotions are definitely flowing and I'm really excited. The Yankees are a great organization and I couldn't be more pumped to get going.
"It was a long journey to get here, and now all the hard work has paid off," Thorpe added. "I am excited to start the new chapter and get back to work."
Thorpe had a banner third season at Cal Poly with a 10-1 record and 2.32 ERA, finishing second in the nation with a school-record 149 strikeouts. He produced 14 consecutive quality starts to close out the year.
"The Yankees got a good one in Drew," said Larry Lee. "He's a polished pitcher with two plus secondary pitches. What separates him is that he's a fierce competitor, has a great feel for what he's doing, and thrives on the big stage.
"He will continue to develop in all aspects of the game," Lee added. "Drew has a bright future ahead of him."
Thorpe's slot in the draft has an assigned signing bonus value of $1,187,000.
The draft is being held at XBox Plaza in Los Angeles in conjunction with the All-Star Game, which will be played Tuesday at Dodger Stadium.
Two rounds along with the compensatory and competitive balance rounds were completed Sunday, with rounds three through 10 on Monday and the remaining 10 rounds Tuesday. The Baltimore Orioles had the No. 1 pick, followed by the Arizona Diamondbacks, Texas Rangers, Pittsburgh Pirates and Washington Nationals.
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. Despite taking himself out of the draft, Brooks was chosen by the San Francisco Giants in the 35th round.
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.
Brooks, who missed nearly all of the pandemic-shortened 2020 season following knee and hamstring surgeries, earned 2021 co-Big West Player of the Year honors by hitting .342 with 10 home runs, 57 RBIs and a school-record 27 doubles 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.
Thorpe struck 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.
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).
Drew was named to all six All-America first teams this spring, becoming the first Mustang to accomplish the feat. He also played in the Cape Cod League and for Team USA last summer and also was a semifinalist for both the Dick Howser Trophy and Golden Spikes Award.
Cal Poly's only three second-round draftees prior to Sunday were pitcher Spender Howard (45th overall selection, Phillies, 2017), southpaw Matt Imhof (47th, Phillies, 2014) and outfielder Grant Desme (74th, Athletics, 2007).
Cal Poly has had 164 players selected in the MLB Draft, including nine who were drafted twice. A total of 46 Mustangs have been drafted in the first 10 rounds, pitcher Jimmy Shull chosen 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.
On Sunday, the third-year Mustang shortstop was the eighth player selected in the 2022 Major League Draft, chosen by the Minnesota Twins.
Only three other former Mustangs were drafted in the first round, led by catcher John Orton, 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 first-round picks.
The eighth selection in this year's draft has an assigned signing bonus value of $5,439,500.
Another program milestone was reached when pitcher Drew Thrope was selected in the second round, 61st overall pick, by the New York Yankees. That gave Cal Poly picks in the first two rounds of a single draft for the first time.
Watching television with family and friends from his parents' house in the Edna Valley, Lee said it has been a long process to get to where he is today, overcoming injuries that forced him to miss his sophomore season in high school as well as most of his first year at Cal Poly.
"The feeling was awesome when I heard my name," Lee said. "I'm super excited, especially because my family was with me along with a lot of people who were part of my community base. It was a great experience.
"It feels great to get drafted," Lee added. "I have put in all the work, more than anyone else, so I'm grateful to have the opportunity to play at the next level."
"It was very emotional, but I am very happy for him, added his father, Cal Poly head coach Larry Lee. "Now he can get started on another chapter in his career.
"He's put in a tremendous amount of work throughout the whole time frame, starting when he was very young through his teenager years, high school and college," added the coach. "He turned a major injury in his freshman year into a positive by getting stronger and has a passion for the game, how the game is played and plays to win which is extremely important."
The father and son had not heard much from Minnesota prior to the draft.
"I think they were kind of assuming I wouldn't get to them," said Brooks Lee.
"It was one of the teams that there just wasn't a lot of communication as the process went on," added Larry Lee. "I'm just happy for him. Now he can go out and continue to do what he does and hopefully get a chance to play at the Major League level in a short period of time."
Yes, I was surprised," Larry Lee added. "Behind the scenes, sometimes you know a few days before the draft, sometimes the morning of, but Brooks' advisor said he really had no feel of how the draft would go and absolutely no feel about Minnesota.
"Minnesota got somebody they can build around. Brooks has a chance to do something special and he's never going to be satisfied with what he has done as a player," said the father. "That's a sign of someone who wants to be great.
"As a family, it's been a very emotional ride, culminating with today's draft. We're all happy and now we know what organization he's going to be in. He wants to get on the field as soon as possible and start playing again."
Thorpe also was watching the draft from his parents' living room in Washington, Utah, just outside St. George.
"It's pretty surreal," Thorpe said. "Emotions are definitely flowing and I'm really excited. The Yankees are a great organization and I couldn't be more pumped to get going.
"It was a long journey to get here, and now all the hard work has paid off," Thorpe added. "I am excited to start the new chapter and get back to work."
Thorpe had a banner third season at Cal Poly with a 10-1 record and 2.32 ERA, finishing second in the nation with a school-record 149 strikeouts. He produced 14 consecutive quality starts to close out the year.
"The Yankees got a good one in Drew," said Larry Lee. "He's a polished pitcher with two plus secondary pitches. What separates him is that he's a fierce competitor, has a great feel for what he's doing, and thrives on the big stage.
"He will continue to develop in all aspects of the game," Lee added. "Drew has a bright future ahead of him."
Thorpe's slot in the draft has an assigned signing bonus value of $1,187,000.
The draft is being held at XBox Plaza in Los Angeles in conjunction with the All-Star Game, which will be played Tuesday at Dodger Stadium.
Two rounds along with the compensatory and competitive balance rounds were completed Sunday, with rounds three through 10 on Monday and the remaining 10 rounds Tuesday. The Baltimore Orioles had the No. 1 pick, followed by the Arizona Diamondbacks, Texas Rangers, Pittsburgh Pirates and Washington Nationals.
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. Despite taking himself out of the draft, Brooks was chosen by the San Francisco Giants in the 35th round.
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.
Brooks, who missed nearly all of the pandemic-shortened 2020 season following knee and hamstring surgeries, earned 2021 co-Big West Player of the Year honors by hitting .342 with 10 home runs, 57 RBIs and a school-record 27 doubles 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.
Thorpe struck 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.
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).
Drew was named to all six All-America first teams this spring, becoming the first Mustang to accomplish the feat. He also played in the Cape Cod League and for Team USA last summer and also was a semifinalist for both the Dick Howser Trophy and Golden Spikes Award.
Cal Poly's only three second-round draftees prior to Sunday were pitcher Spender Howard (45th overall selection, Phillies, 2017), southpaw Matt Imhof (47th, Phillies, 2014) and outfielder Grant Desme (74th, Athletics, 2007).
Cal Poly has had 164 players selected in the MLB Draft, including nine who were drafted twice. A total of 46 Mustangs have been drafted in the first 10 rounds, pitcher Jimmy Shull chosen 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.
Players Mentioned
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