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2019 MLB Draft: Cal Baseball catcher Korey Lee to Houston Astros as a 1st round pick (32nd overall)

Lee has a strong junior season hitting behind Andrew Vaughn

Cal Baseball has a 2nd first round pick in the 2019 MLB Draft
Cal Athletics Twitter

In a bit of a mild surprise, Cal junior Korey Lee (who is ranked just outside the top 100 prospects list by most publications) is selected late in the first round as the 32nd overall pick to the Houston Astros. This was the last pick of the first round (which included three teams having picks for failing to sign players from the previous draft) before the compensation picks.

Lee, who hit a homer in the Fayetteville Regional this past weekend, shares the team lead in homerun with Andrew Vaughn at 15. He put up a slashline of 0.338 batting average/ 0.419 on-base percentage/ 0.626 slugging percentage in 2019.

Defensively, Lee is known for a strong arm even if he can probably improve his ability to block pitches. Korey Lee is the 3rd catcher (all from college) to be selected in the 2019 MLB Draft after the top overall pick Adley Rutschman from Oregon State to the Baltimore Orioles and Shea Langeliers form Baylor going to the Atlanta Braves as the 9th overall pick.

Congratulations to Korey on being drafted and best of luck to him in the pros!

GO BEARS!