Korey Lee played the most games at catcher last season for the Chicago White Sox.

Prospects Edgar Quero and Kyle Teel made their way to the majors this season, creating a roster crunch behind the plate. That led to Lee being optioned to Triple-A Charlotte on June 6.

“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 Friday. “I went over there, I did what I needed to do: catching, hitting, camaraderie, dealing with the pitching staff, did it all.”

The Sox recalled Lee from Charlotte on Friday.

“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. They’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.

“I love baseball, man. 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, hopefully, get to do. I’m just not taking a day for granted.”

In Friday’s corresponding move, the Sox designated veteran infielder Josh Rojas for assignment.

“Tough to move on from (Rojas), I want to thank him for his contributions,” manager Will Venable said. “He was great for us in the clubhouse. I know not the performance he was looking for on the field, but he made a huge impact and somebody we are going to miss.

“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 (with one behind the plate and the other as a designated hitter). Gives 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.”

Lee went 7-for-28 (.250) with three doubles and seven runs in 14 games before being optioned to Charlotte. He slashed .255/.313/.405 with eight home runs, 28 RBIs and 34 runs in 55 games with the Knights.

“I made some changes in the hitting,” Lee said. “I was doing the no-stride when I was here earlier, went to a little bit of a rhythmic swing when I went down there and had some success. Obviously, I learned and failed, and that’s part of the game, taking what I can do and picking it apart and being the best baseball player I can be.”

Venable praised Lee’s approach to the situation.

“He has a great attitude and he’s a young guy (27) still making his way in this league,” Venable said. “For him to have a long healthy career, he had to go down there and continue to go to work and make himself better. He did a nice job of doing that.”

With Lee as another option at catcher, the Sox have some peace of mind knowing someone is available on days both Teel and Quero are in the lineup. Developmentally, Venable said it’s “huge” for Teel and Quero to have the opportunity for more plate appearances. The Sox had Teel at catcher and Quero at designated hitter Friday against the Minnesota Twins at Rate Field.

“More than anything for us, you want the young guys to have consistent at-bats,” Venable said. “But for us, it makes our lineup better, kind of on both ends. Excited to have both those guys in the lineup more often.”

Rojas, who signed a one-year deal with the Sox in the offseason, had not been playing as much recently.

His 2025 got off to a tough start when he suffered a right toe fracture in spring training. Rojas, 31, didn’t play his first regular-season game with the Sox until May 4. He had a .180/.252/.259 slash line with two home runs and 11 RBIs in 69 games.

“He wasn’t able to get here with us and start the year healthy,” Venable said. “I think that he still battled that foot injury when he did come back a little bit. Just never really got going for him. It’s a tough one, but he’s a young guy that will be in this league for a long time.”

Originally Published: August 22, 2025 at 4:00 PM CDT