Zach Lee (born September 13, 1991) is an American professional baseball pitcher in the Los Angeles Dodgers organization. The Dodgers drafted him in the 1st round (28th) of the 2010 MLB June Amateur Draft, and signed him for $5.25 million.[1]
| Zach Lee | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Los Angeles Dodgers – No. 51 | |
| Pitcher | |
| Born: September 13, 1991 Plano, Texas | |
Bats: Right Throws: Right |
High school
As a senior at McKinney High School in 2010, he won 11 games with a 2.15 ERA and 90 strikeouts. He was a highly rated quarterback in high school, passing for 2,565 yards and 31 touchdowns as a senior to earn a Texas All-State Class 4A honorable mention selection and First-Team All-District 9-4A.[2] Passed for 2,935 yards and 33 touchdowns and was named District 9-4A Offensive Player of the Year as a junior.[2]
Professional career
Lee had committed to playing baseball and football[3] at Louisiana State University and enrolled in summer school. He was considered a tough signing due to his football commitment and reportedly dropped in the draft as a result.[4] However, he did sign with the Dodgers, for $5.25 million.[1][5]
Lee made his debut in the Dodgers organization for the Great Lakes Loons in the class A Midwest League in 2011. He made 24 starts for the Loons, finishing with a 9–6 record and 3.47 ERA. He was promoted to the High-A Rancho Cucamonga Quakes to start 2012. He was 2–2 with a 4.55 ERA for the Quakes in 12 starts and was promoted to the AA Chattanooga Lookouts on June 25, 2012. He started off slowly with the Lookouts but improved as the season went on thanks to tweaking his delivery.[6] He finished 4–3 with a 4.25 ERA for the Lookouts.
In 2013, Lee was selected to the mid-season Southern League All-Star Game[7] and finished the season 10–10 with a 3.22 ERA in 28 games, including one complete game shutout. He also struck out 131 batters. Lee was named the Dodgers "Minor league pitcher of the year" for 2013.[8]
Lee was promoted to the AAA Albuquerque Isotopes for the 2014 season. He made 27 starts for the Isotopes and had a record of 7–13 with a 5.44 ERA.
On November 20, 2014, he was added to the Dodgers 40 man roster in order to protect him from the Rule 5 Draft.[9] Lee was assigned to the Dodgers new AAA team, the Oklahoma City Dodgers, to start 2015.[10] He got off to a strong start in 2015 in AAA and put himself back on the map for the Dodgers prospects.[11] but he was shut down at the beginning of June as a result of experiencing tingling in his fingers.[12] The problem was diagnosed as irritation due to poor circulation and he was put back on a throwing program.[13]
References
- ^ a b New York Times, August 17, 2010. Retrieved May 2011
- ^ a b Livingston, Steve (September 5, 2013). "Dodgers Route of Champions Report: Zach Lee". milb.com. Retrieved November 4, 2013.
- ^ Louisiana Daily Comet, June 7, 2010. Retrieved May 2011
- ^ Gurnick, Ken (June 8, 2010). "Dodgers take high school righty at No. 28". mlb.com. Retrieved November 4, 2013.
- ^ Will, Danny (August 15, 2013). "Lookouts starter Zach Lee happy he chose Dodgers over SEC football". Smokies Radio Network. Retrieved November 4, 2013.
- ^ Curtright, Guy (August 21, 2012). "Southern notes: Lee tweaks delivery". Milb.com. Retrieved August 31, 2013.
- ^ Stephen, Eric (July 2, 2013). "Joc Pederson, Zach Lee lead Chattanooga contingent on Southern League All-Star team". truebluela.com.
- ^ Dilbeck, Steve (September 27, 2013). "Dodgers name Zach Lee, Scott Schebler as top minor leaguers". latimes.com.
- ^ Stephen, Eric (November 20, 2014). "Zach Lee, Chris Reed, Scott Schebler added to Dodgers' 40-man roster". truebluela.com. Retrieved November 20, 2014.
- ^ Hoornstra, J.P. (April 7, 2015). "Revealed: Opening Day roster for Triple-A Oklahoma City". LA Daily News. Retrieved April 7, 2015.
- ^ Lennox, Brandon (May 9, 2015). "Zach Lee tossed five innings of one-hit ball". SB Nation. Retrieved June 8, 2015.
- ^ Dilbeck, Steve (June 4, 2015). "Prospect Zach Lee in L.A. to have tingling in fingers examined". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved June 8, 2015.
- ^ Hoornstra, J.P. (June 18, 2015). "Dodgers minor-league pitcher Zach Lee to resume throwing program Friday". LA Daily News. Retrieved June 19, 2015.
External links
- Career statistics and player information from MLB, or Baseball Reference (Minors)
- High School Football highlight video