There were question marks and doubts about his overpayment, but now he’s a serious contender for the batting title. The San Francisco Giants’ Lee Jung-hoo’s adaptability is something Major League Baseball is taking notice of.
MLB.com, the official website of Major League Baseball, conducted a survey of 87 experts on Feb. 25 (KST) to determine the title holders in each category for the 2024 season.
Lee Jung-hoo was among the favorites for the National League batting title.
Luis Arajuez (Miami Marlins) was the favorite to win the National League batting title, according to the 87 experts polled. Arajuez won the American League batting title in 2022 with the Minnesota Twins, going 3-for-6. In 2023, he was traded to the Miami Marlins and won the National League batting title with a .355 average. He is the first player in history to win the batting title in two consecutive years in different leagues. By this year, he was expected to win the batting title for the third consecutive season.
But with so many clear-cut candidates for the award, some experts predicted that Lee would also win the National League batting title. 카지노사이트 While we don’t know how many votes each player received in this poll, it’s clear that the team is paying attention to Lee’s incredible adaptability and performance in exhibition games.In his seven seasons in the KBO, Lee has batted .344 with 65 home runs, 515 RBIs, and an OPS of .898 in 884 games (3476 hits, 1181 at-bats). In 2017, he joined Nexen (now Kiwoom) as the first overall pick in the rookie draft and won the Rookie of the Year award after batting .329 (179-for-552) with two home runs, 47 RBIs, 111 runs scored, 12 doubles, and an OPS of .812 in 144 games in his rookie year.
Since then, Lee has improved steeply each year.
In 2022, he batted .349 (193-for-553) with 23 home runs, 113 RBIs, and an OPS of .996 in 142 games, winning five batting titles (batting average, on-base percentage, slugging percentage, on-base percentage, RBIs, and runs scored) and the league MVP. It was a career-high season.
Last year, after declaring for the major leagues early, he got back on track after a slow start to the season. However, an ankle injury ended his season early, and he finished with a respectable 86 games, batting .318 (105-for-330) with six home runs, 45 RBIs, and an OPS of .861.
He also made a name for himself in various international tournaments, including the 2017 APBC (Asian Professional Baseball Championship), the 2018 Jakarta-Palembang Asian Games, the 2019 Premier 12, and the 2021 and 2023 WBC (World Baseball Classic).
Injuries didn’t stop Lee from reaching the major leagues. He signed a six-year, $113 million (approx. 15.2 billion won) contract with San Francisco. It was the biggest contract ever for a KBO player to reach the majors.
And Lee proved to be a genius, adapting quickly.
Despite missing time due to a side injury early in the exhibition season and a hamstring injury late in the season, his performance has been unbelievable for a major league rookie. Through 24 games, Lee is 4-for-12 (29 at-bats) with one home run, five RBIs, six runs scored, four walks, three triples, two stolen bases, and a 1.071 OPS. Jung-hoo quickly adapted to the new, unfamiliar stage without much trial and error, becoming one of the most sophisticated hitters on the team. He was even considered for the batting title.
Coming from the KBO, there were many who thought it would be a difficult adjustment for Lee, especially since San Francisco overpaid for him. However, Lee’s performance during the exhibition games proved otherwise. The exhibition games and the regular season are different stages, but the way he adjusted to the faster pitches and sharper changeup in the exhibition games was something to behold.
On the 24th,
USA Today mentioned Lee’s name in their list of “100 Players to Watch in the Major Leagues in 2024”. On the list, which included not only promising rookies but also players from Asia or Latin America, the article said, “Lee Jung-hoo is a Korean slugger. The six-year, $113 million contract was the first domino in a revolutionary Giants offseason. The signing of Lee was followed by the signings of Jorge Soler, Matt Chapman, and Blake Snell. In seven seasons in the KBO, Lee compiled a career batting average of .344 and won the league MVP award in 2022. CBS Sports also called Lee “San Francisco’s hope” in an article looking ahead to the year ahead for the Giants. “The Giants ranked 24th in the majors in runs scored and 26th in OPS. That was clearly something that needed to be improved. Lee provides the team with much-needed power and contact at the top of the lineup,” and “The most valuable move of the offseason for San Francisco was signing Lee. He is the team’s essential hope for 2024 and beyond. He’s going to play a big role in the middle infield and we’re hoping he can give us some power as a leadoff hitter,” he said of Lee’s importance to the team.
‘MLB.com’ said on the 13th that ‘San Francisco has added a lot of players this offseason, but Lee looks like the player who could make the biggest difference for the franchise,’ adding, ‘He is a fast, precise hitter whose style fits perfectly at home (Oracle Park) and can ignite a team. 토토사이트 추천 He might be your favorite player before you know it,” predicting Lee to win the National League Rookie of the Year award.
Lee’s health was questionable due to side and hamstring injuries.
However, manager Bob Melvin and the team took great care of him. He didn’t have to rush into action during the exhibition games, and in a relatively small sample size, he proved why he was paid so much money, and he has more to prove in the regular season.