WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. -- Korey Lee is physically at Ballpark of the Palm Beaches in southeast Florida. Mentally, he’s nearly in Houston.

The top Astros prospect is on the precipice of joining the reigning American League champs after climbing three levels in 2021 and finishing out the season at Triple-A. He hit .277/.340/.438 with 11 homers over 88 games along the way and threw out 43 percent of attempted basestealers, thanks to a rocket arm that earns plus-plus grades from scouts.

It’s a precipice made all the more real by the fact that Lee, who has been in West Palm Beach since mid-February as part of Minor League camp, is joining the Major League side as a non-roster invitee. Because of how built up he is already, he could be an early active member of Houston’s Grapefruit League roster while the veterans ease their way into Spring Training play.

• Astros Spring Training report

Before games are played, Lee spoke to MLB Pipeline on Monday about his defensive approach as a catcher, his arm strength, his thoughts on an automated ball-strike system and his proximity to the Majors.

Sam Dykstra: Major League camp is just starting up. You’ve been here for just about a month now. So where are you in terms of your progression?

Korey Lee: I’m ready to roll. I’m ready to rock in games to see what we've been doing and see how it's working in games. Obviously, on the catching side, I'm ready to get with our pitchers and really talk about what they've been doing in the offseason, what they're progressing on, what they're working on. So I’m excited to see them in games and then get those things rolling.

Dykstra: You worked with pitchers at three different levels last year. You worked with pitchers in the AFL too. Take me through that process of trying to keep notes on so many guys.

Lee: You’ve got to have a notebook. You’ve got to write with pen and paper and write it all down. You’ve got to know what you're doing, know what to expect every single game. It's the game-planning where you really can set yourself ahead by really knowing the situations before the game even happens. That's what I take pride in -- all my progression into the game. When you're playing the game, you don't have to think about it. Everything's going to happen naturally.

Dykstra: How do you organize that notebook? Does every pitcher get a page? Are notes color-coded?

Lee: I get detailed. It's their best pitches. It's what the hitters are trying to do that day. I have all the guys in the lineup. I know exactly what they're going to do. I know what their swing looks like, and I know how our pitchers can expose them and what their best pitches are for that situation, too.

Dykstra: Staying on the defensive side, your arm earns the best grades. I know you’re still growing into catching, but how do you keep that a strength?

Lee: It's natural. It's something that I've never really thought about. Just something I always do. It's something that I take pride in. Like you said, it's one of my biggest tools. Honestly, keep on throwing, keep on getting healthy, just always checking off that box. I’m making sure that it's always accurate and that it's ready to rock.

Dykstra: Speaking of which, the Astros have worked with you on your throwing motion. How has it changed since college?

Lee: They've been really, really open with the way I throw. It's been a little bit of setup and technique on the catching side, and it sets me up better with the arm. It's the transition to the one knee. In college, I was catching off two feet. Now, I’m off the knee. It's helped me a lot with blocking, receiving throwing. It’s a natural kind of thing that I'm just growing into right now.

Dykstra: The automated ball-strike system is coming to more of the Minors. As a catcher, framing has been traditionally a big part of your job. How do you feel going up against that?

Lee: It's out of my control. I’m not going to change the way I catch. I'm still going to be working for every single pitch. In the big leagues, you're not going to have that right now. So that's the way I train. I try to be in the big leagues every single day, even though I’m in the Minor Leagues, so once I do get there, it's going to be natural and the same everyday routine.

A lot of guys are probably going to change the way they catch. I’m not going to change it. ... If it's a ball, it’s a ball. If it’s a strike, it’s a strike.

Dykstra: Moving to the offensive side, what did you learn about yourself as a hitter last season, specifically at Double-A and Triple-A?

Lee: It was the planning -- the planning, the process and the commitment to what I do every day. You can get lost in the cage sometimes. You see guys getting in the cage and swinging, swinging, swinging. But whenever I get in the cage, I have my routine. I do what I know is right. Some days, you're not going to feel good, but you know that the routine is going to put you in a good spot to perform every day.

At the end of the day, there's a game, so treat it like a game. Don’t really treat it like you're out there and you have to hit. You might be 0-for-4, but you're going to have a fifth AB. Try and get that hit in that fifth AB. It's just not really giving up.

Dykstra: How would you describe your offensive strengths?

Lee: I would say that I like to hit the ball hard every single time, whether that's up in the air or on the ground. If it's on the ground, not a lot of infielders want to field a ball that's coming in at 105. So if you're hitting the ball hard and squaring it up consistently, I think good things are going to happen.

Dykstra: Now that everybody is here in Florida and you are a Triple-A player with experience at that level, how close do you feel to Houston?

Lee: You taste it. In the offseason, I was around all the big league guys, and you see the life. It’s the Major Leagues. It’s a dream come true. I always say I’m living the dream right now. It’s a pretty good spot to be in, and honestly, it’s very, very humbling to be here and play with these guys.

Dykstra: And as a prospect coming up, you’re trying to crack a Major League lineup that was a few wins away from the World Series. How do you view that challenge?

Lee: It’s another challenge. It’s baseball, man. It’s a game that I’ve played every day in my life. I’m not treating it any differently. It’s another day to get better. It’s another day to live out my dream.