Jung Hoo Lee is an MLB star.
Jung Hoo Lee is the first player I wrote about when began
asianbaseballers.com. While his rookie season was forgettable, as he spent
mostly in the IL, playing only 37 games. It was devastating and many already
counted him out. Struggling early in that season, it looked like he was about
to break out, ending the season with 38 hits, 2 homers, and 8 RBIs, with 15
runs scored. It undoubtedly stifled his progress and transition in the majors.
Fast forward to 2025, he played 150 games with a slash line of .266/.327/.405.
Those are decent numbers in terms of league average, but not superstar numbers,
spending most of the time hitting leadoff and second. Though his 2025 slash
line numbers are slight above average the 2025 NL slash line of .247/.317/.402,
he was the best hitter of the San Francisco Giants that year, which brings into
question whether a .257/.309/.419 slash line is enough to be able to sneak into
the wild card spot at the end of the year. It would be super hard to do with
the Los Angeles Dodgers so far ahead of everyone in the division. But catching
up with the San Diego Padres is still a doable goal.
The Giant’s highlight is the incredible performance have had
in 2026 thus far. He is hitting .331/.365/.470. That is considered elite, as he
is on pace to win his first batting title in his MLB career, as he gains
traction over the NL BA leader from the Marlins, Otto Lopez. He is making the Giants’
front office look like a bunch of geniuses, as to put it frankly, giving a
player from the KBO a multi-year 100 million plus contract was quite a risky
move, considering the level of Baseball played in the league is roughly equivalent
to AA+, a level above AA, but slightly below AAA in the United States. He is paving the way to many more domestic talent
in Korea to directly get the big money, proving that there are indeed MLB
talent in the KBO if you know where to look and which traits to look for upon
evaluating a player.
Lee is still the same hitter as he was in the KBO. He did
not come over and completely change his game just to fit the MLB style. He adjusted
to it and remained the same player he was in the KBO, only doing it so in the major
league level. He still makes a ton of contact, does not give away at bats, and
rarely looks overmatched. That might not sound exciting compared to a guy
hitting 35 homers, but with how many strikeouts are accepted now, I think his
type of hitting stands out even more. Baseball Savant has him near the top of
the league in strikeout rate, whiff rate, and expected batting average, so this
does not really feel like some lucky hot streak. He is just putting the ball in
play repeatedly, and when you do that with his bat control, good things are
going to happen.
Lee’s dad, Lee Jong-Beom, was known as the Son of the Wind
in Korea, and that is why Jung Hoo Lee is called the Grandson of the Wind. It might
sound like just a cool nickname, but it actually means something in Korean baseball.
His dad was the KBO MVP in 1994, and Lee became one himself in 2022, making
them the first father and son to both win KBO MVP. So when Lee succeeds in the
majors, he proves to everyone that indeed
At the same time, I still would not say Lee is a full-on
superstar yet. His batting average is great, but he could still walk more, and most
of his power is more doubles and gap shots instead of home runs. That is not a
bad thing, but the Giants also can’t just expect him to carry the whole offense
by himself. If they want to make a playoff push, they need to get more bats
around him. Lee can be the table setter and probably one of their best hitters,
but making him be the entire offense is just asking for too much. In retrospect,
this season should tell the Giants front office that they need to build around
him instead of just hoping he fixes everything.
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