Pages

▼

12/6/21

Player Profile: Khalil Lee

Khalil Lee - Stock Photo by Herm Card - Herm444@gmail.com


Background, Stats, Videos.

Background: 

Khalil Lee, RF/CF/LF, Bats Left, Throws Left, DOB 6/26/1998, 5'10", 170 pounds, Drafted by the Kansas City Royals, 3rd round, 2016 Draft, 103 Overall.  He is on the Mets 40 Man Roster.

The Mets acquired Khalil on February 10, 2021 as part of a three team trade that sent Andrew Benintendi to the Royals.  The Mets gave up Josh Winkowski (who was acquired as part of the Steven Matz to Toronto trade) along with minor league prospect Freddy Valdez.  

At the time of the trade last winter, I was a little skeptical.  He had great speed, great arm, and power but he struck out more than he hit.

During the season, I spoke to Syracuse Hitting Coach, Joel Chimelis, about Khalil who said: "I think Lee has come a long way mechanically.  I think he needs a better understanding of how the body works and how to be more efficient with the body and the barrel. He’s still young.  He just turned 23. He still has a lot to learn.  I think he’s learning it and picking it up faily quickly. 

He has pretty good strike zone discipline but sometimes his effort level is a bit too much.  But he’s learning and he’s getting better.  One of the things with him is having a high ground ball rate which means he’s spinning off the ball so we try to maintain the connection…focus on the inside part of the baseball…also stay long through the zone and hit more line drives."

Overall in 2021, he still struggled with the strikeouts, getting K'd 128 times against 81 hits but you could see progress all year and in September he hit .311/.440/.635 - 1.075 OPS with 6 HRs and 13 RBIs.  That helped Khalil be named as a 2021 Triple-A East League All Star.  

Tom Brennan had Khalil as his #7 prospect saying: "Khalil Lee - walks a lot, gets hit by pitches a real lot (24 times in 388 PAs), and his hitting in 2021 was much improved.  Was only retired in 55% of his AAA plate appearances, which explains why he had an OBP of .450.  Opposing pitchers had to HATE him. 

The best-ever OBP while in the Mets AAA minors for on base machine Brandon Nimmo was .423, nearly 30 points lower, and that was accomplished in the PCL hitters’ wonderland, not in the normal hitter environment Syracuse where Lee played.  

Lee ought to be a frequently used Mets outfielder in 2021, either as a starter or reserve.  His AAA .450 ought to translate to a 2022 Mets' .300 OBP at a minimum, I would speculate."

Prospects 1500.com has Khalil as the #12 Prospect.

Is he ready to be an MLB regular?  Very possibly.  If not, he is very close.

FanGraphs:

Hit

Game Power

Raw Power

Speed

Field

FV

30 / 40

35 / 50

55 / 60

55 / 55

45 / 55



45


Baseball Savant Page.

Stats:

Hitting -

Fielding -



2021 Batting Splits -


Videos:











on

14 comments:

  1. Mack AdeDecember 6, 2021 at 2:38 PM

    Very nice John.

    I have always been high on Lee and believe he could someday start for the Mets in Flushing.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Paul ArticulatesDecember 6, 2021 at 3:09 PM

    I have seen quite a bit of speculation that Khalil Lee is a very good prospect. I hope that his progression continues, and would love to see him contribute to the success of the big league club. To date, I am not sold on his ability to do this, as my only experience with him is watching him K 13 times in 18 plate appearances with the Mets in 2021. Clearly he has more learning to do to handle MLB pitching - but as a 23 year old, there is still time.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Tom BrennanDecember 6, 2021 at 3:15 PM

    My brother joins Paul…he is not sold on Lee.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Tom BrennanDecember 6, 2021 at 3:15 PM

    But I am.

    ReplyDelete
  5. AlexDecember 6, 2021 at 3:15 PM

    He’s still got a lot to prove.Let’s eye where he is in June T Syracuse.

    ReplyDelete
  6. David RubinDecember 6, 2021 at 4:54 PM

    Great stuff, John - I remain intrigued by Lee, and at his best he could prove to be a VERY interesting outfielder. Will we ever SEE his best? I guess that is the hundered million dollar question, as his current K-Rate remains incredibly scary. Let's hope the new Player Development team and the coaching staff (whomever they may end up being) can help him reduce that and end up with an exciting player.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Tom BrennanDecember 6, 2021 at 7:19 PM

    Great video, too, Lee shows off some REAL power.

    David, his K rate was certainly not good, but he walked or got HBP almost 100 times, so he was up almost 400 times for his 115 Ks. Maybe he needs another half a season to trim that down by 20% to a more palatable rate.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Remember1969December 6, 2021 at 7:26 PM

    I like Khalil Lee and think he can become a solid MLB outfielder. But, like the rest of you, I'd like to see the strikeout rate improved.

    There is some great video here showing his strengths - his glove, his arm, and a really sweet looking left handed swing.

    Syracuse was a great step in 2021 after showing he wasn't ready for New York. He went down and got it done.

    ReplyDelete
  9. John From AlbanyDecember 6, 2021 at 7:35 PM

    His September was tremendous - he has power, speed, and a great arm. Just a great pickup. He has all the tools to be a great MLB player. Hope he gets the chance.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Mike FreireDecember 6, 2021 at 9:04 PM

    Maybe a very nice 4th\5th OFer in the short term?

    ReplyDelete
  11. Tom BrennanDecember 7, 2021 at 1:27 PM

    John, did you get an answer as to why the big drop in stolen bases? My guess is not a drop in speed...he may have been discouraged from stealing to avoid injury and maximize plate appearances. Or decided on that on his own (less likely). But if that is the case, I completely concur...if you have the stolen base thing down pat, why overdo it and risk injury or general wear and tear?

    ReplyDelete
  12. John From AlbanyDecember 7, 2021 at 2:53 PM

    Not sure why the steals went down so much but as a rule, they do not emphasize the running game in the Mets organization. Even with that, Syracuse was one of the top stolen base teams in AAA for most of the year but they tailed off late.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Tom BrennanDecember 7, 2021 at 3:36 PM

    John, as you know, I am not a big fan of acrobatics, whether it is unnecessarily running into walls, dives in the outfield, and yes, unnecessary steals. Steals lead to busted hands, knees, hamstrings, etc. He already has the skill developed - save it for the majors where it counts.

    ReplyDelete
  14. John From AlbanyDecember 7, 2021 at 5:01 PM

    Good point Tom. More important than number of steals are when you steal - late in a game, down a run, are very valuable.

    ReplyDelete