Chicago White Sox To Carry Three Catchers After Promoting Korey Lee

CHICAGO –– Korey Lee's third season with the White Sox has come with an injury, promotions and demotions. But through all the ups and downs, he's learned that one thing hasn't changed.

"I love baseball, man," Lee said Friday in the White Sox clubhouse after being recalled from Triple-A Charlotte.

"It's going to test the love of the game when you have some failure, when you go down. But baseball hasn't changed in my mind. It's something that I love to do and something that I'll always, ho pefully, get to do. I'm just not taking a day for granted."

With two of the White Sox top prospects being catchers, Lee, 27, was the odd man out earlier this season despite making the Opening Day roster. The team first promoted catcher Edgar Quero on April 17, and then sent Lee down to the Minor Leagues when they called up catching prospect Kyle Teel on June 6.

The rookie catching duo has carried the load behind the plate ever since, and Lee has been with the Triple-A Charlotte Knights. He slashed .255/.313/.405/.717 with eight home runs, 28 RBIs, five stolen bases, 17 walks and 55 strikeouts across 240 plate appearances.

While any player would prefer to remain in the big leagues, Lee approached it with an intentional mindset.

"You can take it one way or the other. You can go out there and complain about it, or you can go over there and work," Lee said. " I went over there, I did what I needed to do: catching, hitting, camaraderie, dealing with the pitching staff, did it all."

Lee made a notable change to his swing while in the minors. After using a no-stride swing with the White Sox to begin the season, he described his new approach as a "rhythmic swing." He said it took a couple weeks to feel comfortable with the alteration, but he felt things click after hard work in the batting cage. He sees the learning lessons and failures as part of the game.

And now that he's back in the Major Leagues, where he's played 175 games since 2022 with the White Sox and Houston Astros, he has an extra sense of motivation.

"It's the big leagues. It's where you always want to be," Lee said. "It's where I know that I can play. It's real baseball. You're playing for a reason. I'm very fortunate to be part of this organization and [plan to] finish off the season strong. T hey've been doing great up here. I've been watching every single game. I want to be a part of it, so I'm happy to be back."

Lee's promotion puts the White Sox in a unique position with one fewer infielder, as Josh Rojas was designated for assignment in a corresponding move. The St. Louis Cardinals and Arizona Diamondbacks are the only other teams that list three catchers on their active 26-man roster on MLB.com.

The White Sox may be less flexible in the infield now, but manager Will Venable sees the roster move as a benefit to the lineup and the team's rookie catchers.

"Excited about Korey being here," Venable said. "... Adding Korey, it kind of frees us up and gives us some flexibility to do some of the things we want to do as far as getting both Edgar and Kyle in the lineup. Give us some more options to navigate the end of these games and hopefully find the path to some wins. Excited to have Korey back here."

The White Sox were hesitant earlier in the season to put Teel and Quero in the lineup together, with one at catcher and the other as the designated hitter. They didn't want to put too many responsibilities on the rookies' plates, both mentally and physically, and because of the limitations it creates late in games when making lineup changes.

But the White Sox have been more willing to play Teel and Quero together lately, with both starting in nine of the last 20 games. Friday's game will be the 10th, with Teel catching, Quero as the designated hitter and Lee on the bench. Venable said he wants the young players to have consistent at-bats, and Lee's promotion could be a way to do so.

"I don't think it necessarily needs to be an everyday thing. I mean, there's gonna be other considerations that might drive someb ody else to the DH spot," Venable said. "It's certainly good to have that flexibility to be able to do it and know that you can also make late moves now that Korey's here. It's just not gonna be an automatic one of Teel or Edgar or Korey in the DH spot."

In regard to his role, Lee said he'll do whatever he can do help the team, whether it be running, hitting catching, or even playing the outfield. He acknowledged he hasn't worked in the outfield lately, but said he tried to be athletic on the field.

The primary focus with Lee, Teel and Quero will be catching, but Venable left the door open to Lee moving around if the situation presents itself.

"One of the things we talked to Korey about was just being ready to be a little bit of a Swiss Army Knife more in an emergency role," Venable said. "If we made a late move, to have him in the outfield or the in field, what that might look like, but 100 percent, keeping the focus really on catching. But just knowing that there’s a situation where he could be an emergency guy in other spots. Outside of that, the focus for these guys defensively will be catching."

Prior to joining the White Sox, Lee learned from a Gold Glove and World Series champion catcher in Martin Maldonado, now a 15-year MLB veteran, during his time with the Astros. Lee isn't sure he can provide that much veteran leadership, but he'll try to carry some of that over to Teel and Quero. Venable said Lee's four years of Major League experience could also help the young catchers with gameplanning, talking through situations and offering another perspective.

Teel and Quero have both had productive rookie seasons, and the White Sox have high hopes for them as top-100 prospects at the beginning of the season. Joining them for the final five weeks or so, Lee is excited about what the trio can provide.

"It's promising. They've been doing a great job here handling the pitching staff," Lee said. "Obviously, hitting. They're unbelievable athletes. And whatever I can do to help them go further in their career, that's my job. It's a really, really good group. We've got a good group of staff to help them. And I'm excited to be a part of it now."