Lee Jung-hoo, who hit a home run in the New York Yankees' away game for the first time in his career, hit a long shot for two consecutive days. He is back at the top of the individual rankings in the Major League.
Lee Jung-hoo started as the third batter center fielder and added a double in the second game of a three-game series against the New York Yankees in the 2025 Major League at the Bronx Yankee Stadium in New York on the 13th (Korea time).
Lee Jung-hoo was tied for the lead in the category with Chicago Cubs outfielder Kyle Tucker with seven doubles before the game, and he became the lone lead with his eighth double.
After finishing the game with a double and one hit and one walk from four times at bat, Lee saw his batting average fall slightly to 0.333. His OPS also fell to 0.992.
The Yankees starter Lee Jung-hoo faced was right-hander Will Warren. Gerrit Cole, who was out for the season due to Tommy John surgery in his second year in the Major League, and Lewis Hill, who was sidelined for three months due to spinal injury, joined this season's starting rotation. Since his debut in the last season, he had three losses and an ERA of 10.32 without a win, and this season he had no win or loss before the game, as he allowed two runs in five innings against Arizona and four runs in four innings against Pittsburgh.
Lee Jung-hoo succeeded in getting on base from the first face-off with Warren. Taking the batter's box with two outs in the first inning, Lee drove to the full count without swinging before hitting a 94.9-mile four-seam fastball at the sixth pitch. He failed to score due to a failed follow-up.
In his second at-bat in the third inning with the score tied 2-2, he also showed off his outstanding pitching capability. The ball count was 0-2 after his first and second pitches, but he picked out all three of the following pitches to pressure the pitcher with a full count.
When the 6th pitch, 91.8 miles of fastball came over the outside straight zone, he turned his bat without missing it. It was a hit that flew with a cheerful sound, but he got caught by shortstop Anthony Wolf after getting caught in the Yankees shift.
At the third batter's box in the sixth inning, he was in luck. His grounder to the second base with no outs and no outs appeared to be a double play, but as Yankees second baseman Jazz Chisom escaped the throw to the second base, both runners on the first base and Lee Jung-hoo lived.
In his fourth at-bat, Lee hit a long shot. Taking the batter's box with two outs and a runner on the first base in the seventh inning when his team was losing 4-8, Lee singled out two balls before hitting an 85.2 mile changeup that entered the lower course of the strike zone to send it to right field.
New York Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge is one of the strongest players in the Major League. However, Lee Jung-hoo was quick. I stood at second base and went in.
The fifth batter's box was an RBI single with no outs and runners on the second and third bases in the ninth inning. The opponent team was Devin Williams. However, he was out swinging and striking out after three pitches. Williams' changeup was so perfect.
In the game against the New York Yankees on the previous day, Lee Jung-hoo played an active role with one hit, two walks, two RBIs and two runs from four at-bats with his first home run of the season.
On the day, Lee hit an 89.4 mph (144 km) sinker that entered the third pitch at the ball count of 1B 1S, and exploded a three-run homer to right-center field. It was the first homer in 356 days since the game against the Arizona Diamondbacks on April 21 last year.
Lee Jung-hoo's performance is drawing attention from all U.S. media outlets. MLB.COM on Monday featured nine players who have returned from injury and included Lee Jung-hoo.
MLB.COM said, "Lee Jung-hoo injured his shoulder when he collided with the fence while defending center field in May last year and had to end the promising rookie season," adding, "But Lee Jung-hoo has been showing everyone why San Francisco signed a six-year, $113 million contract since the beginning of this season." This means that San Francisco is proving that it was never wrong to invest a large amount of money in Lee Jung-hoo.
ESPN reported on the 10th that "Lee Jung-hoo, center fielder of the San Francisco Giants, will become the batting champion of the National League." He also expressed an unconventional outlook that "he will be in the top five in the MVP voting."
The player selected as the comparison target is Araes, the No. 1 batting champion who is considered to have the best contact ability in the major leagues. 메이저사이트
"Lee Jung-hoo is faster than Ariz. He also has better on-base ability. He can hit in various directions," ESPN said. "Lee Jung-hoo will start batting between Willy Adames and Matt Chapman. With a runner on the team, chances are high that the pitcher will go head-to-head with Lee."
However, the San Francisco Giants failed to continue its two-game winning streak and ended the game 4-8. Starting pitcher Jordan Hicks gave up eight hits and seven runs in four innings.
The New York Yankees' lineup was evenly distributed. Starting with Ben Rice, the first batter, Judge at the second batter, and Cody Bellinger at the third batter, each had multiple hits, while Paul Goldschmidt hit two RBIs.