Korey Bryan Lee (born July 25, 1998) is an American professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

catcher Catcher is a position in baseball and softball. When a batter takes their turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the (home) umpire, and receives the ball from the pitcher. In addition to this primary duty, the catc ...

for the

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. The club plays its ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

(MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the

Houston Astros The Houston Astros are an American professional baseball team based in Houston. The Astros compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League West, West Division. They are one of two major leag ...

. From

Vista, California Vista (; Spanish language, Spanish for "view") is a city in San Diego County, California, United States. It is a medium-sized city within the San Diego-Carlsbad metropolitan statistical area. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, V ...

, Lee attended

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...

, where he played

college baseball College baseball is baseball that is played by Student athlete, student-athletes at institutions of higher education. In the United States, college baseball is sanctioned mainly by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA); in Japan, ...

for the Golden Bears. He was selected by the Astros in the first round of the

2019 MLB draft The 2019 Major League Baseball draft was held from June 3 to 5, 2019. The draft assigned amateur baseball players to MLB teams. The draft order was set based on the reverse order of the 2018 MLB season standings. In addition, compensation picks ...

, and made his MLB debut in 2022.

Amateur career

Lee attended Vista High School in

. As a senior in 2016, he hit .407 with 21 RBIs. He was not drafted in the 2016 Major League Baseball (MLB) draft out of high school, and he then enrolled at the

where he played

for the

California Golden Bears The California Golden Bears are the athletic teams that represent the University of California, Berkeley. Referred to in athletic competition as ''California'' or ''Cal'', the university fields 30 varsity athletic programs and various club te ...

. In 2017, Lee's freshman season at California, he appeared in 28 games (making 18 starts), batting .277 with three RBIs. After the season, he played in the

Northwoods League The Northwoods League is a collegiate summer baseball wooden bat league. All players in the league must have National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA eligibility remaining in order to participate. The league is amateur, and players are not ...

. As a sophomore in 2018, he played in 36 games, making 28 starts, hitting .238 with five home runs and 26 RBIs. He returned to play in the Northwoods League that summer, hitting .283 with six home runs and 44 RBIs in 57 games. Lee broke out as a junior in 2019, slashing .339/.415/.613 with 15 home runs and 57 RBIs over fifty games, earning a spot on the Pac-12 First Team.

Professional career

Houston Astros

The

selected Lee with the 32nd overall pick of the

. He signed for $1.75 million, and made his professional debut with the

Tri-City ValleyCats The Tri-City ValleyCats are a professional baseball team based in Albany, New York. The ValleyCats compete in the Frontier League (FL) as a member of the North Division in the Atlantic Conference. The team was established in 2002, along with the ...

of the

Class A Short Season Class A Short Season (officially Short-Season A) was a level of play in Minor League Baseball in the United States from 1965 through 2020. In the hierarchy of minor league classifications, it was below Triple-A, Double-A, Class A-Advanced (crea ...

New York–Penn League The New York–Penn League (NYPL) was a Minor League Baseball league that operated in the northeastern United States from 1939 to 2020. Classified as a Class A Short Season league, its season started in June, after major-league teams signed th ...

, with whom he spent the whole season. Over 64 games, Lee slashed .268/.359/.371 with three home runs, 28 RBIs, and eight stolen bases. Lee did not play a minor league game in 2020 due to the cancellation of the minor league season caused by the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. To begin the 2021 season, he was assigned to the

Asheville Tourists The Asheville Tourists are a Minor League Baseball team of the South Atlantic League and the High-A affiliate of the Houston Astros. It is located in Asheville, North Carolina. Asheville teams have played under the Tourists moniker in different ...

of the

High-A East The South Atlantic League, often informally called the Sally League, is a Minor League Baseball league with teams predominantly in states along the Atlantic coast of the United States from New York to Georgia. A Class A league for most of its hi ...

. After slashing .330/.397/.459 with three home runs and 14 RBIs over 29 games, he was promoted to the

Corpus Christi Hooks The Corpus Christi Hooks are a Minor League Baseball team of the Texas League and the Double-A affiliate of the Houston Astros. They are located in Corpus Christi, Texas, and are named for the city's association with fishing. The team is owned b ...

of the

Double-A Central The Texas League is a Minor League Baseball league which has operated in the South Central United States since 1902. It is classified as a Double-A league. Despite the league's name, only its five South Division teams are actually based in the ...

on June 14. In mid-August, he was placed on the

injured list In Major League Baseball (MLB), the injured list (IL) is a method for teams to remove their injured players from the roster in order to summon healthy players. Before the 2019 season, it was known as the disabled list (DL). General guidelines ...

with an oblique strain, and was activated in early September. Over fifty games with the Hooks, Lee hit .254/.320/.443 with eight home runs and 27 RBIs. After the end to Corpus Christi's season, Lee was promoted to the

Sugar Land Skeeters The Sugar Land Space Cowboys are a Minor League Baseball team of the Pacific Coast League (PCL) and the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the Houston Astros Major League Baseball club. They are located in Sugar Land, Texas, part of the G ...

of the

Triple-A West The Pacific Coast League (PCL) is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the Western United States. Along with the International League, it is one of two leagues playing at the Triple-A level, which is one grade below Major League Base ...

, and played in nine games with them. Lee ended the 2021 season with a combined .277/.340/.438 slash line with 11 home runs and 45 RBIs over 88 games between the three clubs. He was selected to play in the

Arizona Fall League The Arizona Fall League (AFL) is an off-season baseball league owned and operated by Major League Baseball (MLB) which operates during autumn in Arizona, United States, at six different baseball complexes. Arizona Fall League rosters are filled ...

for the

Glendale Desert Dogs The Glendale Desert Dogs are a baseball team that plays in the West Division of the Arizona Fall League. They play their home games at Camelback Ranch in Glendale, Arizona. The ballpark is also the spring training facility of the Chicago White S ...

after the season. He returned to Sugar Land to begin the 2022 season. On July 1,

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

, the Astros selected Lee's contract and promoted him to the major leagues. He made his MLB debut that night as a

pinch hitter In baseball, a pinch hitter (PH) is a substitute batter. Batters can be substituted at any time while the ball is dead (not in active play); the manager may use any player who has not yet entered the game as a substitute. Unlike basketball, A ...

for

Martín Maldonado Martín Benjamín Maldonado (born August 16, 1986) is a Puerto Rican professional baseball catcher for the San Diego Padres of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the Milwaukee Brewers, Los Angeles Angels, Houston ...

versus the

Los Angeles Angels The Los Angeles Angels are an American professional baseball team based in the Greater Los Angeles, Greater Los Angeles area. The Angels compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League West, ...

and was retired on a pop-up. On July 4, 2022, Lee made his first major league start for the Astros against the

Kansas City Royals The Kansas City Royals are an American professional baseball team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Royals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. The team ...

Minute Maid Park Daikin Park (originally Enron Field and formerly Astros Field and Minute Maid Park) is a retractable roof stadium in Houston, Texas, United States. It opened in 2000 and is the home ballpark of the Houston Astros of Major League Baseball (MLB). ...

. Lee led Houston's offense versus the

Oakland Athletics The Oakland Athletics (frequently referred to as the Oakland A's) were an American Major League Baseball (MLB) team based in Oakland, California from 1968 to 2024. The Athletics were a member club of the American League (AL) American League We ...

on July 10, singling off starter

Cole Irvin Cole RJ Irvin (born January 31, 1994) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Doosan Bears of the KBO League. He has previously played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Philadelphia Phillies, Oakland Athletics, Baltimore Oriole ...

in the fifth inning to score

Jake Meyers Jacob Berkshire Meyers (born June 18, 1996) is an American professional baseball outfielder for the Houston Astros of Major League Baseball (MLB). Meyers played college baseball for the Nebraska Cornhuskers. He was selected in the 13th round by t ...

for his first major league hit and RBI. In the seventh inning, Lee collected his first major league

double Double, The Double or Dubble may refer to: Mathematics and computing * Multiplication by 2 * Double precision, a floating-point representation of numbers that is typically 64 bits in length * A double number of the form x+yj, where j^2=+1 * A ...

and recorded two more RBIs. He completed a 3-for-4 night with three RBIs as Houston won 6–1. The Astros optioned Lee to Sugar Land on August 2, 2022. On August 23, he homered three times and drove in a career-high five to lead a 23–8 win over the

Las Vegas Aviators The Las Vegas Aviators, formerly known as the Las Vegas 51s and Las Vegas Stars, are a Minor League Baseball team of the Pacific Coast League (PCL) and the Triple-A affiliate of the Athletics. They are located in Summerlin South, Nevada, a comm ...

. It was also the first multi-homer game of his professional career. Before Game 6 of the

2022 World Series The 2022 World Series was the World Series, championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) 2022 Major League Baseball season, 2022 season. The 118th edition of the World Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff between the American League (AL ...

, the Astros replaced

Yuli Gurriel Yulieski Gourriel Castillo (born June 9, 1984), commonly known as Yuli Gurriel and nicknamed "La Piña", is a Cuban professional baseball first baseman who is a free agent. He has previously played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Houst ...

, who exited Game 5 with a knee injury, on their roster with Lee. The Astros defeated the

Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. The Phillies compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East Division. Since 2004, the team's home stadium has ...

in that game for their fourth win in the best-of-seven series to give Lee his first career World Series title. Lee was optioned to the Triple-A

Sugar Land Space Cowboys The Sugar Land Space Cowboys are a Minor League Baseball team of the Pacific Coast League (PCL) and the Triple-A affiliate of the Houston Astros Major League Baseball club. They are located in Sugar Land, Texas, part of the Greater Houston metro ...

to begin the 2023 season.

Chicago White Sox

On July 28, 2023, Lee was traded to the

in exchange for right-handed pitcher

Kendall Graveman Kendall Chase Graveman (born December 21, 1990) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Arizona Diamondbacks of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the Toronto Blue Jays, Oakland Athletics, Seattle Marin ...

. Lee was called up to the active roster on August 24. In 24 games for Chicago, he struggled to an .077/.143/.139 batting line with one home run and three RBI. Lee was optioned to the Triple–A

Charlotte Knights The Charlotte Knights are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the Chicago White Sox. They are located in Charlotte, North Carolina, and play their home games at Truist Field ...

to begin the 2024 season, but was later recalled to the

Opening Day Opening Day is the day on which professional baseball leagues begin their regular season. For Major League Baseball (MLB) and most of the American minor leagues, this day typically falls during the first week of April, although in recent year ...

roster following an injury to

Max Stassi Max Robert Stassi (born March 15, 1991) is an American professional baseball catcher in the San Francisco Giants organization. The Oakland Athletics drafted him in the fourth round of the 2009 Major League Baseball draft, 2009 MLB draft. In 2013, ...

References

External links

California Golden Bears bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lee, Korey 1998 births Living people Baseball players from Escondido, California Major League Baseball catchers Houston Astros players Chicago White Sox players California Golden Bears baseball players Tri-City ValleyCats players Asheville Tourists players Corpus Christi Hooks players Sugar Land Skeeters players Glendale Desert Dogs players Sugar Land Space Cowboys players Charlotte Knights players La Crosse Loggers players

Amateur career

Professional career

Houston Astros

Chicago White Sox

See also

References

External links