Astros acquire reliever Graveman from White Sox for minor league catcher Lee

Updated Jul. 28, 2023 5:53 p.m. ET

Associated Press

HOUSTON (AP) — The Houston Astros acquired reliever Kendall Graveman from the Chicago White Sox on Friday in exchange for minor league catcher Korey Lee.

General manager Dana Brown announced the trade that brought the right-handed Graveman back to Houston after he spent the last two months of the 2021 season with the Astros.

“We feel like he’s going to come in here and make an impact,” Brown said. “He could pitch some high pressure innings for us and his stuff is really good, very competitive, the ball moves all over the place. So we felt like he was a fit both for the team and his ability and to gel with our clubhouse makeup.”

Graveman was 3-4 with eight saves and a 3.48 ERA in 45 appearances for the White Sox this season. In his first stint with the Astros after a trade from Seattle, he had a 3.13 ERA in 23 appearances.

In the 2021 postseason, he had a 1.64 ERA in nine appearances, including three in the World Series.

The 32-year-old Graveman has a career 4.00 ERA and 24 saves in nine major league seasons.

Lee was a first-round pick by the Astros in the 2019 draft from California-Berkeley. He made his major league debut last year and hit .160 with two doubles and four RBIs in 12 appearances.

He spent all this season with Triple-A Sugar Land, where he is hitting .283 with five homers and 32 RBIs.

“You hate to lose some of your prospects,” Brown said. “But at the end of the day, we thought we had a chance to really bridge the gap to the end of our bullpen and win more games.”

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