The San Francisco Giants’ star rookie has left a great impression on his teammates early on with his performance.
Coming off missing the playoffs for two consecutive years, the San Francisco Giants were looking for major roster upgrades this winter that would allow them to compete for a spot in the postseason.
Prior to landing Blake Snell and Matt Chapman, their major splash signing was Korean megastar Jung Hoo Lee.
They handed the 25-year-old a six-year, $113 million contract after he had a successful run in the KBO that saw him win the Rookie of the Year award, MVP, and Gold Glove five times.
So far, he’s been as advertised, reportedly leaving his teammates “in awe” with his performance on Thursday night that saw the Giants beat the defending National League champions 5-0.
Lee reached base safely three times, twice on infield singles and another time following a fielding error. That extended his hitting streak to 10 games.
He also flashed his defensive skills, making an incredible play in center field that aided Logan Webb’s dominant outing.
“Watching him day in and day out do his thing, I think the sky’s the limit for him, to be honest with you. Saving runs, saving hits, hitting the ball — everything he does is pretty cool,” Webb told Jason Mastrodonato of The Mercury Times.
Lee isn’t going to make many plays on offense that are going to lead highlight shows.
He hasn’t hit for power yet with only one home run and a slugging percentage of .346, but through 19 games, his offensive bWAR is 0.3, meaning he’s providing early value to San Francisco’s lineup.
It’s also telling that Giants players are recognizing what he’s doing on the baseball field.
The star rookie should only continue to get better has he adjusts to playing in the MLB, and his work ethic has been extremely high as he wants to show that he can become on of the top players in this league.
“Every game is really important for me. I try to put a lot of importance on all the pitchers I face right now,” he said.
In his seven seasons playing in Korea, Lee had a career slash line of .340/.407/.491 with 65 total home runs and 515 RBI.
He can hit.
It should only be a matter of time before the rising star shows that he can do it at this level too.
