The San Francisco Giants new potential star has gotten off to an interesting start according to different numbers, but he also projects to be inline for a massive year.
The San Francisco Giants made a splash signing this offseason as they brought in a new star leadoff hitter from overseas.
Hidden among some major pitcher signings, the Giants’ new addition could be a key part of their franchise moving forward.
Jung Hoo Lee, 25, joins San Francisco after seven seasons in the Korea Baseball Organization.
He was a superstar in Korea, winning the KBO Rookie of the Year award in 2017 and Most Valuable Player in 2022. He also won five gold glove awards in six seasons. When he signed with the Giants, no one was expecting him to all of a sudden be bad at hitting baseballs, but no one could have predicted just how good he has been at making solid contact.
To begin the year, he has a 54.1 percent hard-hit rate and 8.8 percent whiff rate. Both great numbers, but they don’t tell the whole story to his start.
Lee has an on-base plus sugging percentage that is just .639 right now, which is well below where he would like to be.
So where’s the discrepancy?
As Brent Maguire of MLB suggested while digging into his numbers, he believes that Lee is due for success. He is expected weight on-base average, .320, is far above his current wOBA of .249. This would likely mean he is just in an unlucky stretch and should see his numbers begin to rise to be more in line with what he’s actually doing at the plate.
His spring training numbers were also a lot higher than his current numbers, which is another promising sign.
The best thing in his offensive game is that he does not swing-and-miss and really doesn’t chase balls or strikeout that much. He has been very solid at the plate, but the ball hasn’t fallen as much as everyone would like to see.
He looks like he should be a great addition in the long run and ready to make a name for himself in Major League Baseball.
