New prospect Hao-Yu Lee brings 'contact-plus-damage approach' to Detroit Tigers after trade

Hao-Yu Lee thought he escaped the trade deadline.

"It's the last minute," he remembers thinking. "I can go prepare for my game now."

It wasn't exactly the last minute, but less than three hours before the deadline, Lee found out he hadn't escaped after all. He wasn't allowed in the dugout for his team's game on the night of Aug. 1, and after the game, he had to put the Philadelphia Phillies' organization in the rearview mirror. He was a new member of the Detroit Tigers.

"My brain kind of shut down for a little bit, like I blacked out," Lee said in Mandarin on Nov. 1 in Arizona through Tigers interpreter Peter Lin. "In the beginning, I thought the Phillies didn't want me, but now I understand that it's business."

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The Tigers acquired Lee, a 20-year-old infield prospect, from the Phillies for right-hander Michael Lorenzen. The trade capped a success story for the Tigers president of baseball operations Scott Harris last season — sign Lorenzen to a one-year contract and help him improve, then trade him for a prospect — but Lee's performance in the future will ultimately determine the success of the trade.

Harris wanted Lee for his potential and contact skills.

"He's hit at every level," Harris said Aug. 1, roughly 45 minutes after the trade deadline. "He's still very young. He swings at the right pitches. He makes a ton of contact. He drives the ball in the air. We also think the power is on the come, and he can play multiple positions on the dirt. We need more of those types of bats in our system."

Lee joined the Tigers and made his organizational debut Aug. 3 with High-A West Michigan.

In his eighth game, he suffered a season-ending left quad strain. He hit .214 with three walks, one home run and nine strikeouts in those eight games. Overall, Lee hit .273 with six home runs, 33 walks and 65 strikeouts across 75 games, spending most of his time at second base. He chased too many sliders but made contact on more than a third of his total swings. He also made contact on 82.8% of his swings inside the strike zone.

"I focus on the one spot that I'm really good at," Lee said, "and I can drive the ball pretty well."

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Lee, who suffered a broken hand in 2022, struggled to hit fastballs in the air to the pull side last season, but as a whole, he has posted high fly-ball rates throughout his young career. The only problem is Lee doesn't hit the ball hard enough to create damage on the fly balls, averaging an 85.7 mph exit velocity. He has 16 home runs across 704 plate appearances in his minor-league career, dating back to when he signed with the Phillies out of Taiwan in June 2021 as part of the international signing period.

Lee expects his power to shine as he develops.

"That's not really my biggest concern," Lee said, "because I know it's always there."

Regardless of power, Lee made healthy swing decisions despite being one of the youngest players at the High-A level, as exemplified by his walk rate (10%), strikeout rate (19.8%), chase rate (24.8%) and contact rate (75.9%). Continuing to make good swing decisions will allow him to advance in the minor leagues. Still, his 90th percentile exit velocity — which measures top-end raw power — was a below-average 101.7 mph last season. (For comparison, the MLB average for 90th percentile exit velocity is 104.8 mph.)

The Tigers are planning for Lee to arrive early to spring training in Lakeland, Florida, where he will be introduced to their strength, medical and nutrition programs.

"He's a lot more physical than I thought he was," Tigers vice president of player development Ryan Garko said. "He really impacts the baseball. It's a contact-plus-damage approach. I think he's got a lot of ways to impact the game. I love the actions at second base, or just in the infield in general, the actions with the glove, the first-step quickness, the range. I think, for him, it's just making him comfortable in a new organization, keeping him healthy and letting him play."

THE TRADE: Tigers trade Michael Lorenzen to Phillies for prospect Hao-Yu Lee

The Phillies wanted Lee to work on his defense more than his offense throughout the 2023 season.

"Continue to improve with the bat, but I think the defense is where we can see some big steps forward," Phillies director of player development Preston Mattingly told The Athletic in April 2023, less than four months before the trade deadline. "Just continue to work on that and be focused, locked in every single day. I think we’ll see a better version of the defense. The bat, to me, you always have to improve. But, for his age, he’s pretty advanced. Just continue to track there. He’ll play second base and he’ll play some shortstop too. We want to expose him to other stuff to challenge him."

Lee's goal of improving on defense stayed the same despite the trade. He recovered from the quad strain and played 13 games for the Salt River Rafters of the Arizona Fall League to finish his season.

Lee hit .265 with one home run, nine walks and 12 strikeouts in the AFL as one of the youngest players. He took the field at second base in all 13 games, totaling 110 innings. (He has also played shortstop and third base in his minors career.)

"Defense is the part I wanted to improve," Lee said. "I wanted to improve my lateral movement through the ball. Hitting-wise, it's probably just building upon this point and getting better."

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Lee, who turns 21 in early February, has a history in Michigan.

Back in 2017, Lee helped Chinese Taipei win the Junior League World Series at Heritage Park in Taylor, Michigan, just 20 miles from Comerica Park in Detroit. Lee hit five home runs and drove in 17 runs across five games in the eight-day tournament, including a three-run homer in the championship game.

The trip to Michigan included a visit to Comerica Park to watch the Tigers.

"It's the first stadium that I've been to," said Lee, who was 14 at the time of the Junior League World Series. "I'm looking forward to playing there. Full circle."

Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him @EvanPetzold.

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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Tigers prospect Hao-Yu Lee already has elite contact skills