LAKELAND, Fla. -- The tattoo on the left side of Hao-Yu Lee's neck can be difficult to make out until you read it up close: Persistence.
It fits the Taiwanese-born Tigers prospect.
It’s how the former Phillies international signing rose to become the No. 8 prospect in the Tigers' system and an All-Star Futures Game selection last year.
It’s how a then 21-year-old with somewhat limited English endeared himself to teammates and fans alike at Double-A Erie last year.
“He’s a guy you love having on your team,” said No. 1 prospect Jackson Jobe, Lee’s teammate for much of last season with the SeaWolves. “He’s playing with intensity. Love having him behind you as a pitcher. But in the clubhouse, he’s a chill dude. He’s cool.”
And it’s how one of the youngest players in camp has made the most of his first Major League camp and drawn the attention of established Tigers while making his case as a potential answer at third base.
“I think he’s going to be a stud,” Kerry Carpenter said.
Lee will not be outworked. He has fun with teammates, which became evident when he won a batting practice competition on the back fields early in camp. But he is also intense, as many noticed within the first few games.
“He loves to compete,” manager A.J. Hinch said. “He thinks he should get a hit every time.”
It’s a slight exaggeration; even at Erie last year, Lee hit just under .300. But learning how to handle strikeouts, for a player who has had a low K rate on his way up the Minors, has been his biggest lesson.
“Riley Greene struck out three times in one game. Kerry Carpenter struck out two times in a game. Every time, it seems like this is another at-bat,” Lee said through translation from Peter Lin. “This is what I need to learn, to control my emotions after a strikeout. I need to get a little bit smoother instead of having ups and downs.”
Lee approached both players about this, the mental side of hitting. Though he uses a translator with reporters, he knows enough English to talk with teammates himself.
“I pretty much told him this is a super hard game, and you’re going to fail,” Greene said. “It’s how you bounce back from it, turning the page at-bat to at-bat, but pitch to pitch as well.”
Carpenter talked about focusing more on why he struck out, rather than the strikeout itself. Watch film, make adjustments, take the next at-bat.
“It was kind of an honor that he thought I handled it well,” Carpenter said. “Sometimes it’s harder than it looks. But I just told him that it’s always deeper than the result. At least for me, I can think back almost pitch for pitch throughout my at-bats and kind of see why I struck out or why I got a hit.”
It’s not necessarily new for Lee. But it’s an ongoing process.
“I've tried to purposely calm myself down before,” Lee said. “Turns out it doesn't really suit me, so what I want to do is try to get a balance between getting super emotional and getting not emotional at all.”
Colt Keith talked to Lee about not overworking in the cage too early in camp, relaying what he experienced during his rookie season last year.
“He’s kind of been the model student,” Hinch said, “because he always wants to learn, and he’s going to put in the effort. If anything, we need to dial back some of the volume for him, both short term in this spring but also in his routines.”
Lee has had plenty of chances. His first at-bat of the spring was a 12-pitch walk, followed by a 413-foot fly out to center that would’ve been a home run in 23 MLB parks according to Statcast (but not in Comerica Park).
That changed quickly. He went 0-for-10 with five strikeouts in his first five games before he hit a sinking line drive to right-center on Sunday. Pirates center fielder and No. 2 prospect Konnor Griffin made a diving attempt but trapped the ball.
Lee, finally with a hit, rounded first and never slowed, beating the throw to second with a hustle double.
“Once I saw he didn't catch it, he has to get the ball and get up,” Lee said, “and I just know that the timing is good to get to second.”
Said Hinch: “Him getting a hit might have cut his [practice] swings down by 50 today -- which is a positive.”
The lessons from camp will go into his routine at Triple-A Toledo, where he’s expected to open the season playing for manager Gabe Alvarez for a second consecutive season. From there, it’s a short trip to Detroit.
Senior Reporter Jason Beck has covered the Tigers for MLB.com since 2002.
