All You Need to Know About Astros' Surprise First-Round Pick Korey Lee
By Parker White
The Houston Astros shocked the baseball world when they drafted catcher Korey Lee out of the University of California with the 32nd overall pick.
Why was it surprising? Well, among pre-draft prospect rankings, Lee was listed at No. 119 by MLB.com and No. 173 by Baseball America
The #Astros selected C Korey Lee from the University of California with our first pick yesterday!
— Houston Astros (@astros) June 4, 2019
Get to know the 2019 first rounder: https://t.co/opK6PYkdik pic.twitter.com/zDzTJbjmmP
Maybe he was underrated and overlooked because his teammate was Andrew Vaughn, who went third overall to the Chicago White Sox, but that's still a huge jump in the rankings.
This is the second biggest off-the-board pick obviously as we had Korey Lee ranked deep into the hundreds. We know catchers get pushed up. He's a good receiver behind the plate with above-average power and arm strength.
— Carlos Collazo (@CarlosACollazo) June 4, 2019
This was Lee's junior season and first as a starter. He began turning heads with his raw power and strong arm behind the plate, and ended up leading the nation in throwing out attempted base stealers, so we know he has skill behind the dish.
There's no doubt Lee benefited from having Vaughn in the same lineup, but in 50 games he hit .338 with 15 home runs and 57 RBI, while throwing out 12 of 27 would-be base stealers.
It's not always the best strategy to draft by need, but with the catching position being so weak in Major League Baseball, you can't blame a team for taking a player that has plenty of upside and would address a weak spot in your organization, which Lee certainly does for Houston.