Korey Lee looking forward to showing White Sox he's the right catch
Over the span of three days in late July, the White Sox acquired two catchers in trades.
The first, 20-year-old Edgar Quero, is highly regarded and projected to be a mainstay behind the plate for the Sox at some point beginning in 2025.
The second, Korey Lee, is positioned to get a chance to show the White Sox he can handle the top catcher's job later this season, and possibly beyond.
The 25-year-old Lee joined the Sox in the July 28 deal that sent veteran relief pitcher Kendall Graveman to the Astros.
"It's awesome," Lee said. "Houston gave me a great opportunity to learn how to be a pro, taught me how to be a pro. Coming in at 20, you don't really know what to expect. Now coming into the White Sox organization at 25, it feels a little bit better and the opportunity is great.
"It's nice to see a familiar face, Andrew Vaughn. He's a great person and even a better baseball player. I'm happy to be part of the organization and ready to get started."
Lee, college teammates with Vaughn at California, was the Astros' first-round draft pick in 2019.
While the switch-hitting Quero's bat has drawn early raves, Lee is known for his defense.
"You're the captain back there, you're the quarterback," said Lee, Houston's No. 5 prospect this season. "That's what I've always wanted to do, what I've always wanted to be. Everyone's eyes are on you. Even on TV, everyone's looking at the catcher.
"It's a pretty good job to do. It's really, really hard, but if I played any other position, I don't think I would be so successful."
Playing for Class AAA Sugar Land in the Astros' system this year, Lee went down with s strained right oblique in early July but he returned to field with Class AAA Charlotte after the trade.
In 8 game with the Sox's top farm team, the 6-foot-2, 210-pounder is hitting .250/.250/.250 with 3 RBI.
Last season, Lee played in 12 games with Houston and was 4-for-25 with 4 RBI.
"I got to be around (Astros catcher) Martin Maldonado, I got to learn from him, I got to see how he managed a pitching staff," Lee said. "Learned how he communicated with pitchers and it taught me a lot. I'm going to carry that further into my career and make it my way, but he taught me how to be a professional catcher and over there in Houston they knew how to win and I want to bring that over to the White Sox."
With injury-prone Yasmani Grandal in the final season of a four-year, $73 million contract, the Sox have a glaring need at catcher.
Maybe Quero fills it down the road, but Lee is going to get the first shot to make a good impression.
"Let's get him healthy, get him back playing regularly," White Sox general manager Rick Hahn said of Lee. "Give him a chance to get to know this staff and for our coaches to get to know him. He's still young, he's still developing. Very real possibility we'll see him at some point this year, see how he fits going forward.
"He's a very strong catch-and-throw type. Good leader on the field, high energy. He was teammates, he was roommates with Andrew Vaughn. Andrew and I had a conversation about Korey and his potential fit and makeup and Andrew had nothing but very positive things to say."
Lee can't wait for the opportunity with the White Sox.
"It would be unbelievable," he said. "It's a lot of trust going into me. I'm going to play my game, do what I do really well. I'm going to connect with the pitching staff. I'm going to be a catcher. That's the main priority at the big-league level, being a catcher, learning how to communicate, how to call a game. I've got to play my game and whatever happens, happens."