Terming Chase Lee’s Major League debut on Tuesday night as a dream come true wouldn’t be entirely accurate. The right-handed pitcher said playing in the big leagues had seemed far beyond his reach as an Alabama walk-on.
But Lee wasn’t dreaming when he worked 1.2 scoreless innings to finish the Detroit Tigers’ 2-0 loss to the San Diego Padres in an interleague game at Comerica Park in Detroit.
“Honestly, I tried not to dream about it too much,” Lee told mlb.com. “Growing up, this was never reality for me. I didn’t have the opportunity to play collegiate baseball; I walked on. So this has been free baseball since then. I really never expected this opportunity, and so I just tried to take it as it came and not put too much expectations or pressure on it.”
Lee pitched on AHSAA playoff teams in his final two seasons at McAdory High School in McCalla. To continue playing baseball, Lee joined the club team at Alabama as he started work on his degree in aerospace engineering.
For the club team, Lee posted a 7-0 record with an 0.21 earned-run average, which garnered Rawlings National Club Baseball Association All-American honors and an opportunity to walk on with the Crimson Tide team in 2019.
Over the next three seasons with Alabama, Lee went 9-0 with a 1.87 ERA in 49 relief appearances. He struck out 94 in 82 innings.
The Texas Rangers drafted Lee in the sixth round in 2021.
Lee reached the Rangers’ Triple-A affiliate, the Round Rock Express, in 2022 and was still there in 2024 when Texas traded him to the Tigers as part of a deal to acquire reliever Andrew Chafin.
Detroit called up Lee from the Toledo Mud Hens on Tuesday.
On Tuesday night, Lee relieved former Auburn pitcher Bailey Horn with one out and a runner on first in the top of the eighth and got a double play to end the inning. Lee gloved a soft liner by designated hitter Manny Machado and doubled Fernando Tatis Jr. off first.
In the ninth, Lee loaded the bases with two walks and a hit batter before striking out San Diego second baseman Mason McCoy to close the frame.
“Obviously, I wish we could’ve pulled it out and gotten the win,” Lee said. “The guys were so excited for me. Getting to watch them experience that for me, it was fun to watch their reactions as well as to get to enjoy the moment myself.”
