Bob Melvin was right. .356, Lee Jung-hoo's overwhelming batting average of 2nd Flores and clutch total, second overall in RBIs
May 20, 2025
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Coach Bob Melvin explained that he has an excellent ability to hit the ball and get on base when he put Lee Jung-hoo, who made his debut as a leadoff last year, in the third batting order this season at the opening of spring training in February. Lee Jung-hoo, who lacks slugging power, meant that he could only hit well to bring in a runner.
Then, how good is Lee Jung-hoo's clutch ability this season.
First of all, Lee Jung-hoo added an RBI by hitting a timely double at home against the Kansas City Royals at Oracle Park on the 20th (Korea time). San Francisco lost 1-3, ending its three-game winning streak, with Lee Jung-hoo's RBI the only score.
Lee Jung-hoo hit a double in the bottom of the eighth inning, trailing 0-2. San Francisco had a chance with two outs and runners on first and second bases with Sam Huff's heavy hit and Elliott Ramos' left-handed hit.
Lee Jung-hoo, who then entered the batter's box, pulled the 83.6 mile sweeper, which flew into the lower course of the opponent's right-hander John Shriver's second pitch, hit a hit over the first baseman's height and fell on the right-wing line, and ran to second base. In the meantime, second baseman Huff came home, and first baseman Ramos advanced to third base.
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As of today, Lee Jung-hoo's batting average in scoring position is 0.359 (14 hits in 39 times at bat), tied for 21st among 165 batters in the two leagues who passed the regular at-bat, along with Washington Nationals catcher Keibert Lewis. He tied for 12th in the NL. He has 23 RBIs in scoring areas, tied for 14th overall in this category and 10th overall in the NL.
Lee's batting average for the season is 0.276 (51 hits in 185 at-bats), ranking 52nd overall, and tied for 20th with 30 RBIs. Putting these records together, it can be interpreted that the batting average in scoring is much higher than the batting average in the season, so the RBI ranking is quite prominent compared to the batting average ranking. This is why head coach Melvin placed Lee Jung-hoo in the third batting order.
Along with Lee Jung-hoo in San Francisco, the center hitter to pay attention to is Wilmer Flores, who is hitting No. 2 these days. He hit eight RBIs with three home runs against the Athletics on the 17th, ranking first in both leagues in this category. The current batting average is 0.257 (43 hits in 167 at-bats), slightly above the league's average, but 42 RBIs are the No. 1 overall, one more than Aaron Judge of the New York Yankees.
Flores is tied for ninth overall in scoring with 0.386 (17 hits in 44 at-bats), and he is by far the first in scoring with 35 RBIs. Like Lee Jung-hoo, even though he was batting in the .200 range, he diligently brought in runners by swinging hard from the scoring position.
The total number of runs scored by the two players is 58, ranking second behind Chicago Cubs Pete Crow-Armstrong and Seiya Suzuki (60 RBIs overall) in the 30-team 'Clutch Heater Duo. It can be said that Lee Jung-hoo and Flores are responsible for much of the San Francisco attack.
Meanwhile, Lee Jung-hoo, who has six home runs, 31 points, and 30 RBIs, will have 20 home runs, 101 RBIs, and 101 points in the season if he keeps his current pace. No Korean big leaguer became the first Korean to score 20 home runs, 100 RBIs and 100 runs in a season.
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This article was translated by Naver AI translator.
