Back pain that hurt so much Lee Jung-hoo returned to Triple-A game, not ML. Why? I'm going to play when I'm ready for the opening game
Mar 22, 2025
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In an interview with local media such as the Mercury News on the 22nd (Korea time), Lee Jung-hoo said, "I want to see the season for a long time." Of course, the opening game is important. If I'm ready, of course I'll play. "But what I'm saying is that the opening game is only one of 162 games. I want to take a long look at the race. Run when you're ready, and if you're not, you'll have more time to recover.'
Lee Jung-hoo, who continued his hitting sense until the middle of the exhibition game, tried to play against the Seattle Mariners on the 16th after missing the Milwaukee Brewers on the 15th for a break, but was urgently excluded from the lineup due to back pain. At the time, the San Francisco club explained that Lee Jung-hoo's back pain was `because I didn't sleep well at night.'
However, as the pain continued longer than expected, he underwent an MRI examination on the 18th by Dr. Kenneth Akijuki, an orthopedic surgeon. Fortunately, there was no structural damage. If he had ruptured his muscles or found an abnormality in his nervous system, he would have been on the injured list (IL) for the season.
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In other words, the back pain was very severe. Lee Jung-hoo never had back and back problems even though he suffered shoulder, abdominal muscles and ankle injuries during his KBO career.
Lee Jung-hoo decided to take a break against the Cleveland Guardians on the 22nd and the Arizona Diamondbacks on the 23rd. And he will play in a practice game against the Triple-A Sacramento Rivercats in Sacramento, the middle of the route to San Francisco after leaving the Arizona camp on the 24th.
He will then play in the last two consecutive games against the Detroit Tigers at Oracle Park on the 25th and 26th, and will be checked for the opening game. San Francisco will play the regular season opener against the Cincinnati Reds on the road on the 28th.
Lee Jung-hoo "I'm going to improve my condition by doing catch and batting training tomorrow, but there was no word that the season would start on the IL."There were things I wanted to do in Korea during the offseason. Invest a lot of time in it during the offseason and come to spring training and use it during the game to gain confidence. So I want to maintain this confidence throughout the season."
The nuance is that he has regained his confidence in technology as well as health.
Coach Bob Melvin said he was satisfied if Lee Jung-hoo played three exhibition games before the opening game. He won't play in Arizona anymore, but if he plays in Sacramento practice games and two Oracle Park games against Detroit, there is no shortage of figuring out Lee Jung-hoo's condition.
Coach Melvin said, `Three games is enough for Lee after this game,' adding, `I will decide to play against Detroit after watching the Sacramento game. We will also consider taking a day off before the opening game."
Lee Jung-hoo has a batting average of 0.300 (9 hits in 30 at-bats), two homers, five RBIs, nine runs scored, and an OPS of 0.967 in 12 spring training games.
This article was translated by Naver AI translator.
