"This season is different."' SF Lee Jung-hoo hits 5G in a row in ML exhibition game → 0.429-OPS 1.110

*This content was translated by AI.

Both seasons spent in the Major League Baseball (MLB) were regrettable. As if to foreshadow that it will be different this time, Lee Jung-hoo is wielding a fiery blow from the exhibition game.

Lee Jung-hoo started as the second batter right fielder in the 2026 MLB exhibition game against the San Diego Padres at Peoria Stadium in Peoria, Arizona on the 17th (Korea time) and played 1 hit, 1 walk, and multiple bases in 2 at-bats.

He played with a batting average of 0.343 and an on-base plus slugging percentage (OPS) of 0.911 in the first season's exhibition games, but ended the season early by getting on the operating table, and last year, he followed with a batting average of 0.250 and an OPS of 0.829, but he boasts a hotter batting sense this season.

He played 150 games and recorded a batting average of 0.266 (149 hits in 560 at-bats), eight homers, 10 steals, 55 RBIs and 73 runs, an on-base percentage of 0.327, a slugging percentage of 0.407, and an OPS of 0.734.

It was clear that he was a key player in San Francisco, but the star's performance, which signed a six-year, $113 million (about 168.6 billion won), was somewhat disappointing.

Lee Jung-hoo, who returned home after the season, said, "I felt sorry for myself and started batting training." Lee Jung-hoo, who played 5 hits in 12 at-bats in the previous four exhibition games, headed to the 2026 World Baseball Classic (WBC) as captain.

He led the team to the quarterfinals as the captain of the WBC and showed off his good defense, but it was regrettable at bat. In five games, he only had a batting average of 0.238 (5 hits in 21 at-bats) with two RBIs and four runs, an on-base percentage of 0.273, a slugging percentage of 0.333, and an OPS of 0.606.

Lee Jung-hoo, who returned to his team, hit a high slider of 89 miles (143.2 kilometers) per hour against opposing starter Walker Buehler with one out in the top of the first inning and hit a double to the left.

Lee Jung-hoo, who failed to score because he did not have a follow-up hit, turned to a ground ball to the second base on the slider in the third inning with one out and second base.

In the fifth inning, Jared Oliva got on base with a pitch that hit him, stole second base, went to the batter's box and watched the first strike, calmly picked out the ball that left the zone, completing the multi-base run with a walk. He was later replaced by Will Brennan. Brennan was out trying to steal second base and the inning ended.

Lee Jung-hoo, who joined the team after the WBC, posted a batting average of 0.417 to 0.429 (6 hits in 14 at-bats), an on-base percentage of 0.417 to 0.467 and a slugging percentage of 0.583 to 0.643. The OPS is 1.110.

San Francisco had a sacrifice fly to Miguel Anduha on the first and third bases in the sixth inning, Bryce Johnson and Ty France on consecutive timely hits, and Tyler Fitzgerald followed with a sacrifice fly on the first and third bases with no outs in the seventh inning, but lost 1-3.

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*This content was translated by AI.