"A batting average of 0.162." Healthy Lee Jung-hoo is excluded from the first start... It's not "Shock". It's even sad

*This content was translated by AI.

Lee Jung-hoo (28, San Francisco Giants), who fell into a severe slump, was excluded from the starting lineup for the first time in the 2026 season.

San Francisco announced its starting lineup for the home game against the Philadelphia Phillies during the 2026 Major League Baseball (MLB) regular season at Oracle Park in San Francisco, California on the 8th (Korea time).

On this day, San Francisco's lineup consisted of Willy Adames (striker), Matt Chapman (third baseman), Luis Arraez (second baseman), Eliot Ramos (left fielder), Rafael Devers (first baseman), Casey Schmidt (designated hitter), Gerard Encarnacion (right fielder), Daniel Susaek (catcher), and Jared Oliva (midfielder). The starting pitcher is Robbie Ray.

Against this, Philadelphia formed a lineup of Trey Turner (striker), Kyle Schwarber (designated hitter), Bryce Harper (first baseman), Adolis Garcia (right fielder), Edmund Sosa (third baseman), J.T. Realmupo (catcher), Otto Kemp (left fielder), Dylan Moore (second baseman), and Justin Crawford (midfielder). The starting pitcher is Christopher Sanchez.

For Korean baseball fans, this game also attracted attention as a rematch between Lee Jung-hoo and Sanchez. However, Lee Jung-hoo was excluded from the starting lineup and did not even have a chance to avenge Sanchez, who humiliated the Korean national team at the 2026 World Baseball Classic (WBC). In the absence of Lee Jung-hoo, it went to Gerard Encarnacion, who has a strong long shot.

Sanchez, born in the Dominican Republic, is a left-hander whose main weapon is a high-speed sinker with a maximum speed of 99 miles per hour (about 159.3 kilometers) and an average speed of 95.4 miles (about 153.5 kilometers). In the second round of the WBC finals, which ended last month, he became the winning pitcher against South Korea with two hits, one walk, and eight strikeouts in five innings. On that day, Sanchez drew as many as 18 swings and misses from Korean batters with a total of 63 pitches, including 40 sinkers, 12 sliders and 11 change-up pitches.

Lee Jung-hoo was also one of the hitters humiliated by Sanchez. Lee Jung-hoo, who started as the third batter and center fielder at the time, poured cold water on the Korean lineup with three strikeouts in the first inning and a double play in the first inning in the fourth inning. In the end, South Korea lost to the Dominican Republic in the seventh inning 0-10.

Since then, the joys and sorrows of the two have remained mixed. Sanchez entered the Major League regular season and won two games with a 0.79 ERA and 17 strikeouts in 11 ⅓ innings.

On the other hand, Lee Jung-hoo is off to his worst start to the season with a batting average of 0.162 (6 hits in 37 at-bats), four RBIs, five walks and eight strikeouts, and an on-base percentage of 0.256 on-base plus slugging percentage of 0.243 OPS (on-base percentage + slugging percentage) of 0.499. In particular, he only hit a batting average of 10% with one hit in 10 at-bats in seven games against left-handers. Given that there was no news of any health problems, it is highly likely that the disappointing performance was the reason for the exclusion of the starter. Looking at the performance alone, it was even more regrettable that the exclusion of the starter was not a shock.

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*This content was translated by AI.