'How could this be?' Lee Jung-hoo, hailed as the top trade target, yet 4 at-bats with no hits! Batting average plummets from 0.311 to sixth in MLB

*This content was translated by AI.

Lee Jung-hoo (28, San Francisco Giants), who was praised as the 'top target' of this season's Major League Baseball (MLB) trade market, is seeing his bat slow down somewhat. He remained hitless in four at-bats, ending his five-game consecutive hit streak and falling behind in the fierce race for the batting title.

On the 8th (Korea time), Lee Jung-hoo started as the fifth hitter and center fielder against the Toronto Blue Jays at Oracle Park in San Francisco, California, U.S., in a '2026 MLB' home game but managed only four at-bats with no hits and two strikeouts.

Prior to this, Lee Jung-hoo had received high praise from U.S. sports media outlet ESPN, being ranked seventh overall among all trade targets and first within the San Francisco Giants organization, making the disappointment even greater. Not only was his five-game consecutive hit streak halted, but his season batting average also dropped to 0.311 due to a slump that began in late June. Along with this, his ranking in the overall MLB batting average standings fell to sixth place.

On this day, Lee Jung-hoo was thoroughly shut down by the Toronto pitching staff. In his first at-bat of the game, with no outs and a runner on first base in the bottom of the second inning, he hit a fly ball to left field after fouling off six pitches from starting pitcher Spencer Mills' 97.4 mph (approximately 156.7 km/h) sinker during a full-count situation. Later, in the bottom of the third inning with two outs and a runner on third base while trailing 2-8, he hit a ground ball to first base after making contact with Mills' 95.9 mph (approximately 154.3 km/h) first-pitch sinker.

There was no turnaround in the later innings of the game either. In the bottom of the fifth inning with two outs and a runner on second base, Lee Jung-hoo faced reliever left-handed pitcher Patrick Corbin and struck out looking. Dissatisfied with the call, he even attempted an ABS (robot umpire) challenge regarding an outside slider, but it was not overturned. In his final at-bat of the game in the bottom of the eighth inning, his bat swung through the air against reliever Mason Fluhr's fourth pitch, a 91.3 mph cutter inside, resulting in another strikeout and ending the game with consecutive strikeouts.

Meanwhile, the San Francisco Giants suffered a lifeless defeat as their starting pitching staff collapsed. Starting pitcher Trevor McDonald was hammered for 11 hits allowed (including one home run), one walk, and eight earned runs over just 2⅓ innings, surrendering three runs in the second inning and five in the third, handing Toronto an early lead.

After McDonald was pulled, Adrian Houser held the mound with a scoreless performance of 5⅔ innings and five strikeouts, but the Giants' lineup managed to score only one run each in the second, third, and fifth innings, resulting in a decisive 3-9 loss.

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*This content was translated by AI.