Prospect profile: Chris Lee made a nice first impression with the Orioles

It seemed like a pretty minor trade at the time. On May 18 of this past season, the Orioles acquired minor league left-hander Chris Lee from the Houston Astros. They gave up two international bonus slots to Houston.

Lee, a tall, lanky southpaw with a good fastball that touches the mid-90s, had never pitched above low Single-A ball with Houston. But the Orioles sent him to Single-A Frederick after the deal and he ended the season making seven starts at Double-A Bowie.

He is likely now among the Orioles' top 10 overall prospects and is clearly one of their top left-handed pitching prospects. Lee, who turned 23 on Aug. 17, made 21 starts after the acquisition, and between Frederick and Bowie, went 7-8 with an ERA of 3.07.

A native of Tampa, Fla., Lee was drafted in Round 37 by the Chicago White Sox in 2010, but did not sign. A year later, Houston selected him in Round 4 with the 130th overall selection and signed him for a bonus of $215,000.

Lee pitches between 92 and 96 mph with his fastball, and also throws a slider and changeup. One scout said he saw a start where he held velocity deep into the game and that he was touching 96 mph several times in the sixth. His changeup is considered to be ahead of his slider right now.

Early in his career, command and control were issues for Lee, but that has improved. In his first two pro seasons in the Appalachian League, he walked 43 in 57 1/3 innings. In 114 1/3 innings last summer with the Orioles, he walked 49 and fanned 74. With a career walk rate of 4.2 per every nine innings, he still has some improving to do. But with a solid, repeatable delivery, he projects to keep making strides in that regard.

One area on the stat sheet where Lee stands out is his ability to keep the ball in the park. Between three teams last year - he started with Quad Cities before the trade - he gave up just two homers over 145 innings. For his career, he has allowed just 17 homers over 364 2/3 innings, or 0.4 for every nine innings. That is a very low total.

At 6-foot-4 and 175 lbs., Lee still has plenty of room to fill out and grow. As he continues to mature, it could help him become more durable and maybe even add a tick or two in the velocity department. Lee was ranked as Houston's No. 22 prospect after the 2013 season.

He is a solid left-handed pitching prospect the Orioles were able to acquire for two international bonus slots that they seemed likely to not even use. Lee will need to be protected from the Rule 5 draft this winter, so he is considered likely to get added to the Orioles' 40-man roster sometime over the next few weeks.