Lee Evans

Lee Houston Evans

• Bats Both, Throws Right
• Height 6' 1", Weight 190 lb.
• High School Tuscaloosa County High School

• Born July 20, 1977 in Tuscaloosa, AL USA

BR Minors page

Biographical Information

Catcher Lee Evans was drafted by the Pittsburgh Pirates out of high school in the 4th round of the 1996 amateur draft. He began his professional career that same year with the GCL Pirates, hitting .279 in 32 games. In 1997, he split his time between the Erie Sea Wolves of the New York-Penn League and the Augusta GreenJackets of the South Atlantic League, batting .239/.297/.361 in 94 games. In 1998, he spent the entire season at Augusta and hit .223/.285/.389 in 98 games. He continued to progress slowly in 1999, moving up to High A and the Lynchburg Hillcats of the Carolina League, where he batted .225 in 117 games. 2000 saw him get to AA for the first time after starting the year in Lynchburg. He played 32 games for the Altoona Curve of the Eastern League, hitting .237 after batting .259 in 90 games for Lynchburg. he then spent all of 2001 with Altoona, playing 118 games and batting .248/.314/.411, with 21 doubles, 8 triples and 11 homers. That gave a sense that he could be a useful back-up player in the majors.

On December 13, 2001, he was included in a major league trade alongside P Todd Ritchie, going to the Chicago White Sox in return for three pitchers - Kip Wells, Sean Lowe and Josh Fogg. All four pitchers involved would have substantial major league careers, but not Evans. In 2002, he played both in AA for the Birmingham Barons of the Southern League, and in AAA for the first time with the Charlotte Knights in the International League. He hit a combined .250 in 94 games, with the usual middling power. He was let go by the White Sox and signed as a minor league free agent with the Atlanta Braves that December. He spent both 2003 and 2004 again between AA and AAA, in this case the Greenville Braves in the Southern League and the Richmond Braves in the International League, hitting .233 the first year and .230 the second. he matched his career high with 11 homers in 2004, but otherwise did not give the big league Braves a compelling reason to bring him up, absent injuries to their regular catchers. In 2005, he played one final season in the Pacific Coast League with the Portland Beavers, the AAA affiliate of the San Diego Padres but was released on July 26th after appearing in just 12 games and going a dreadful 1 for 37, for a batting average of .027. That was the end of his playing career.