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Lee Jung-hoo of the San Francisco Giants tosses his bat after hitting a groundball back to the mound against the Cleveland Guardians during a Major League Baseball spring training game at Goodyear Ballpark in Goodyear, Arizona, on Sunday. (AP) |
Lee Jung-hoo of the San Francisco Giants has stretched his spring training hitting streak to five games.
The South Korean rookie center fielder batted 1-for-2 with an RBI and a walk against the Colorado Rockies at Salt River Fields at Talking Stick in Scottsdale, Arizona, on Monday (local time).
Batting leadoff, Lee grounded out to second base in the top of the first and drew a walk in the top of the second.
Lee came up with runners at the corners in the top of the fourth and cashed in a run with a single to left. Lee was then lifted for pinch runner Chase Pinder.
Lee's RBI single, which came during the five-run fourth inning, gave the Giants a 3-1 lead. But the Rockies rallied for a 12-10 win.
Playing in his first big league spring training after seven seasons in the Korea Baseball Organization, Lee has hit safely in all five exhibition games so far. He has a .462/.533/.769 line with a home run, three RBIs, a steal and two walks.
Barring any dramatic late development, Lee is expected to be the Giants' primary leadoff man and center fielder, a position they sought to upgrade after getting subpar production from 11 different players in 2023.
Lee, the 2022 KBO regular season MVP, signed a six-year, $113 million contract with the Giants in December, the largest contract ever awarded to a South Korean player in the posting system.
Elsewhere in Arizona on Monday, Kim Ha-seong of the San Diego Padres batted 1-for-3 and scored a run in his team's 2-1 victory over the Chicago Cubs at Peoria Stadium in Peoria.
Kim, batting from the top of the order, picked up his lone hit with a double in the bottom of the third. He advanced to third on a wild pitch by Jordan Wicks and then scored when Fernando Tatis Jr. singled to left. Mason McCoy replaced Kim at shortstop to begin the top of the sixth.
Kim, the 2023 National League Gold Glove winner at the utility position, is batting .400 with three extra-base hits in seven spring training games. He has moved all around the infield over his first three seasons with the Padres but will be their primary shortstop in 2024, with All-Star Xander Bogaerts moving across to second base.
At Goodyear Ballpark in Goodyear, Arizona, Park Hoy-jun of the Oakland Athletics batted 1-for-2 off the bench in their 15-8 loss to the Cincinnati Reds.
Park replaced Max Schuemann at second base to start the bottom of the fifth. At the plate, Park lined out to right field in the seventh and singled to left in the ninth. He is batting .500 in eight spring training contests, and he has yet to strike out in 12 at-bats.
Park, 27, signed a minor league deal with the A's in November and earned an invitation to spring training, where he has been fighting for a big league job.
Park, a utility player who can play a handful of positions, had brief major league stints with the New York Yankees and the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2021 and 2022. He spent the entire 2023 season with the Gwinnett Stripers, the Triple-A club of the Atlanta Braves. (Yonhap)
