San Francisco Giants outfielder Lee Jung-hoo (26) has been scratched from his exhibition game debut due to a mild side soreness.
“Lee will be out of the lineup for the opening game of the exhibition series against the Cubs after feeling a slight soreness in his side earlier this week,” MLB.com reported on Thursday (June 24).
Lee is South Korea’s best hitter, batting .344 (3476-for-1181) with 65 home runs, 515 RBIs and an OPS of .898 in 884 career KBO games. In 2022, he had his best season in 142 games (553 at-bats, 193 hits) with 23 home runs, 113 RBIs, and a .996 OPS, winning five batting titles (batting average, slugging percentage, on-base percentage, RBIs, and runs scored) and the league MVP award. In his last year in the majors, an ankle injury ended his season early, but he still managed to hit .861 with six home runs, 45 RBIs, and an OPS of .861 in 86 games (105-for-330). After the season, he made history by signing a six-year, $113 million contract with San Francisco, the largest contract ever for a KBO player to reach the major leagues.
San Francisco has high hopes for Lee. Even before Lee reached the major leagues, the team showed genuine interest in him, with general manager Pete Futilla personally visiting Gocheok Sky Dome to watch Lee’s final at-bat in the KBO, 카지노사이트 and gave him the fifth-largest contract in franchise history, following Buster Posey (nine years, $167 million), Johnny Cueto (six years, $130 million), Matt Cain (six years, $127.5 million), and Barry Zito (seven years, $126 million).
San Francisco manager Bob Melvin projected Lee as the starting center fielder and leadoff man early on.
San Francisco fans can’t wait to see him in action. Unfortunately, the team decided to postpone his debut in an exhibition game to get him in perfect shape.
The Giants will open their exhibition season against the Cubs at Scottsdale Stadium in Scottsdale, Arizona, on May 25th. Melvin revealed that Lee will be out of the lineup for the opener.
But it’s not a major injury. Melvin emphasized that it’s not a major concern, saying, “He has a very minor soreness in his side, so he’s not going to play tomorrow (Aug. 25). Sometimes you can get pain when you swing and you have to be careful with injuries like that early in camp. We don’t want to aggravate it by pushing him at this point,” he said, explaining why he left Lee out of the lineup.
“The Giants are hoping to have Lee back in the lineup for his first game in a couple days,” MLB.com reported. The Giants open the season at home against the Cubs on April 25, followed by a road game against Texas on April 26, 메이저 토토사이트 a home game against the Angels on April 27, and a home game against Seattle on April 28. Lee is expected to make his first appearance as early as the home opener against the Angels.
