Khalil Lee was selected in the third round of the 2016 MLB Amateur Draft by the KC Royals. He was the Gatorade Player of the Year in Virginia as a senior in high school and was viewed as a two-way athlete. The organization took him in hopes of developing him into a phenom of an outfielder and thus far, the results have been mixed.
Once Lee proved to be too advanced for Single-A ball in 2018, he was promoted to AA. In 29 games with Northwest Arkansas, he posted a .245/.330/.353 line with a pair of home runs and 10 RBIs.