"It exploded again!"' Lee Jung-hoo, CLE opponent's home run blast → MX team's double + RBI 'Merciless'... Expectations grow for the opening game against the Yankees

*This content was translated by AI.

Lee Jung-hoo (28, San Francisco Giants), who is the only Korean major leaguer to play in the opening game of this season, showed off his good condition by recording hits and RBIs in practice games with the Mexican team.

Lee Jung-hoo started as the fourth batter and right fielder in a practice game against Mexican team Sultanes de Monterrey at Oracle Park in San Francisco, California on the 24th (Korea time) and recorded one hit and one RBI in three at-bats.

The game was not an official Major League Baseball (MLB) exhibition game, but an event match conducted by the San Francisco club. As a result, the performance of the game was not added to the performance of the exhibition game.

Lee Jung-hoo played in eight exhibition games and had a batting average of 0.455 (10 hits in 22 times at bat), one homer, one double, one triple, four RBIs, four runs, two walks, an on-base percentage of 0.500, a slugging percentage of 0.727, and an on-base percentage of 1.227. In particular, he never struck out a single time. In particular, in the game against the Cleveland Guardians, which was the last exhibition game, he made two hits in three at-bats (one home run), one RBI, and two runs.

It was the most outstanding exhibition game performance since making his big league debut in 2024. In the 2024 season, he hit 0.343 (12 hits in 35 at-bats) with one home run and five RBIs with an OPS of 0.911, and in the 2025 season, he hit 0.250 (9 hits in 36 at-bats) with two home runs and five RBIs with an OPS of 0.829, respectively, in 13 games. And this year, although the number of games decreased due to the participation in the World Baseball Classic (WBC) tournament, he showed good condition.

Lee Jung-hoo, who rested at the game against the Sacramento Rivercats, a minor league triple-A team affiliated with the club, on the previous day (23rd), returned to the starting lineup on the same day.

Lee Jung-hoo faced his first at-bat in the bottom of the second inning, but he retired with a fly ball to center field and finished preheating. And he immediately reported a long shot in his second at-bat.

San Francisco took a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the third inning with two outs and runners on first and second bases. Lee Jung-hoo hit the opposing pitcher's ball and scored an RBI double that escaped through the right foul line. The batting speed was 100.7 miles (about 162 kilometers). In the meantime, second baseman Luis Aras came home, and Lee Jung-hoo's RBI also rose.

Lee Jung-hoo entered the batter's box for the third time in the bottom of the fifth inning with two outs and a runner on the first base, but was grounded out to the first base. After finishing defense in the bottom of the seventh inning, Lee Jung-hoo finished his game by replacing Luis Matos. With Lee Jung-hoo's performance, San Francisco defeated Monterrey 10-2. Now, San Francisco plans to play Monterrey in the final practice game at the same venue on the 25th.

San Francisco will be the first of the 30 major league teams to play this season. At 9:05 p.m. on the 26th, he will play the opening game of the 2026 season against the New York Yankees at Oracle Park, San Francisco's home stadium.

Meanwhile, Lee Jung-hoo, who entered the U.S. Major League Baseball (MLB) in 2024, ended the season early due to an unexpected shoulder injury. And Lee Jung-hoo played the entire season without injury in the 2025 season. He played in 150 games and posted a batting average of 0.266 (149 hits in 560 at-bats) with eight home runs and 55 RBIs, an on-base percentage of 0.327, an on-base percentage of 0.407, and an OPS (on-base percentage + slugging percentage) of 0.734.

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*This content was translated by AI.