Former Cal Poly Baseball teammates, shortstop Brooks Lee and right-handed pitcher Drew Thorpe, faced off for the first time since being drafted in the 2022 MLB Draft on Wednesday afternoon.
It marks the first time in Cal Poly Baseball program history that two teammates drafted in the same year face off at the Major League level.
The former Mustangs battled it out in game two of Wednesday’s doubleheader that saw the Minnesota Twins take down the Chicago White Sox in a 3-2 final.
In their first at-bat against one another, Lee grounded out to second after swinging at a first-pitch fastball up in the strike zone.
The second at-bat saw Thorpe strike Lee out on three pitches, finishing the San Luis Obispo native off with a slider, which would end up being Thorpe’s only strikeout of the day.
Their final at-bat of the day came in the sixth inning and saw Lee pull an inside cutter down the right field line and over the fence for a solo home run.
Thorpe finished the day with six innings pitched, two earned runs allowed, while giving up three hits and a walk.
Lee finished his day 1-for-5 with a home run, an RBI and two strikeouts.
The switch-hitting shortstop was drafted No. 8 overall to the Minnesota Twins in the 2022 MLB Draft, the highest any Mustang has been drafted in program history.
Thorpe was selected with the No. 61 overall by the New York Yankees before being traded twice this past offseason to the San Diego Padres and ultimately the Chicago White Sox.
Lee and Thorpe were teammates during their time as Mustangs from the 2020 season through the 2022 season.
The pair had stand-out careers at Cal Poly and racked up the accolades to show for it.
Lee earned 2021 co-Big West Player of the Year, 2022 Big West Player of the Year, consensus first-team All-American in 2022, was a semifinalist for both the Golden Spikes Award and Dick Howser Trophy and was given the Brooks Wallace Award for the nation’s best shortstop.
Thorpe was a consensus All-American, became the first Mustang to win Big West Pitcher of the Year in 2022, was a finalist for National Pitcher of the Year and a semifinalist for the Golden Spikes Award and the Dick Howser Trophy.
The pair will continue to face off as the season continues and further down the line in their respective MLB careers.
