Ah! Lee Jung-hoo hit by a ball in an "unlucky spot," ultimately moved to the injured list → effectively out for the season

*This content was translated by AI.

Lee Jung-hoo (28), the "grandson of the wind" of the San Francisco Giants, has sadly ended his 2026 season early due to an unexpected injury to a vital area.

The San Francisco Giants officially announced on the 22nd (Korean time) that Lee Jung-hoo had been placed on the 10th-day injured list (IL) due to a groin contusion. With less than a week remaining until the end of the regular season (the 27th against the Los Angeles Dodgers), this move effectively concludes Lee Jung-hoo's participation for this season.

The injury scene was painful. During an away game against the Los Angeles Dodgers on the 21st, Lee Jung-hoo was struck squarely in the groin area by a foul ball he himself had hit. Although he attempted to continue playing through the pain, he was substituted for a pinch runner at the start of the bottom of the 7th inning, raising concerns. While detailed examinations revealed no major issues, it appears the team opted against risking further strain. Justice Delos Santos, San Francisco correspondent for local outlet Mercury News, also expressed on his social media that Lee had been "hit by a ball in an unlucky spot."

As a result, Lee Jung-hoo's final statistics for this season are confirmed: 143 games played, .276 batting average (539 at-bats, 149 hits), 10 home runs, 57 RBIs, 12 stolen bases, and an OPS (on-base plus slugging) of 0.724. While his hit total remained exactly the same as last season, he increased his home run count by two and reduced his strikeouts from 71 to 57, demonstrating a degree of adaptation to Major League Baseball.

He also achieved a significant milestone: becoming only the third Korean player in history to join the "10-home runs–10 stolen bases" club. Reaching double-digit home runs in a single season is now the eighth such record by a Korean player, following Choo Shin-soo, Kang Jung-ho, Choi Hee-seop, Choi Ji-man, Lee Dae-ho, Park Byung-ho, and Kim Ha-seong. Simultaneously achieving double-digit home runs and stolen bases in one season is only the third time this has been accomplished in history, after Choo Shin-soo and Kim Ha-seong.

In fact, Lee Jung-hoo's performance this season resembled a roller coaster. For the entire month of June, he hit .340, competing for the National League batting title alongside Miami Marlins' Aut Lopez. At one point, expectations rose high that he might become the first left-handed batter in San Francisco Giants history to achieve a .300 batting average since Barry Bonds in 2004.

However, late-season physical decline and a slump held him back. His batting average dropped to .288 after going through July (.244) and August (.245), and by September it fell as low as .160 for the month, causing his overall average to plummet from .274 at one point. After a hitless stretch of 1-for-13 over three games against San Diego from the 12th to the 14th, he endured difficult times through pinch-hit appearances and a return to the starting lineup.

Fortunately, his final appearance was promising. During a three-game away series against "earth rival" Dodgers, he hit home runs and doubles, recording 4 hits in 10 at-bats with one walk, showing a perfect rebound trend. However, an unexpected foul ball injury occurred just before the season's conclusion, forcing him to reluctantly put down his bat.

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*This content was translated by AI.