As soon as he felt like he would win, Lee Jung-hoo rebounded the atmosphere of a multi-double, and then he would be an All-Star in a month

Jun 05, 2025

Lee Jung-hoo of the San Francisco Giants raises his right hand to cheer his teammates after hitting a double in the left field line in the bottom of the sixth inning at home against the San Diego Padres on the 5th (Korea time). AFP Yonhap News

Lee Jung-hoo is on the All-Star shortlist. AFP Yonhap News

The combination of 'technology and luck', if this is the way it is, it is worth expecting a fifth All-Star as a Korean big leaguer.

San Francisco Giants' Lee Jung-hoo led the team to victory by scoring multiple hits, RBIs and runs evenly.

Lee Jung-hoo started as the second center fielder in the final game of the three consecutive home games against the San Diego Padres at Oracle Park on the 5th (Korea time) and scored two hits, one RBI and one run in three at-bats, including two doubles. San Francisco won 6-5 after a fierce chase after trailing 0-5 in the bottom of the fifth inning. Lee Jung-hoo hit the come-from-behind final hit.

Lee Jung-hoo succeeded in rebounding by raising his batting average to 0.274 (65 hits in 237) with no hits in five at-bats the previous day, which fell to 0.269. He had 32 RBIs, 33 runs, six steals, and an OPS of 0.754 on six home runs, respectively. With 16 doubles, he tied for sixth in the NL.

Lee Jung-hoo hits a left double in the bottom of the sixth inning, and when Matt Chapman hit a two-run home run, he celebrates with his arms facing each other. AP Yonhap News

On this day, MLB announced the list of All-Star candidates for each club, and the first fan vote began. The possibility of Lee Jung-hoo being included in the 'Best9' through fan voting is actually slim.

NL outfielders include Arizona Diamondbacks Corbin Carroll (18 home runs, OPS 0.908), Washington Nationals James Wood (16 home runs, OPS 0.940), Chicago Cubs Pete Crow-Armstrong (15 home runs, OPS 0.866), Cubs Kyle Tucker (12 home runs, OPS 0.915), Sandago Fernando Tatis Jr. (13 home runs, OPS 0.830), New York Mets Juan Soto (11 home runs, OPS 0.802), Los Angeles Dodgers Andy Pazs (12 home runs, OPS 0.838) and Lee Jung-hoo has six stars.

In the end, he has no choice but to be selected by MLB recommendation. The first fan vote ends on the 27th, and the second round of voting, which will be contested by the first and second places in each position, excluding one person who gets the most votes in each league, will be held from June 31 to July 3. After that, MLB will select pitchers and backup fielders through players' voting and MLB's own evaluation.

In other words, Lee Jung-hoo must maintain his condition for the remaining month until early July to improve his performance. Since he is popular as a player symbolizing San Francisco, he can play in the All-Star Game for the fifth time among Korean players after Park Chan-ho, Kim Byung-hyun, Choo Shin-soo and Ryu Hyun-jin if he recreates the same performance as in April.

However, if he looks jagged as he is now, San Francisco is likely to have one of Elliott Ramos (11 home runs, 33 RBIs, OPS 0.850), Wilmer Flores (10 home runs, 47 RBIs, OPS 0.720), and Matt Chapman (11 home runs, 28 RBIs, OPS 0.790). This year's All-Star Game will be held at Truistar Park on July 16.

Lee Jung-hoo hits a sacrifice fly to center field in the bottom of the seventh inning with one out and runners on second and third when the score was 5-5. AFP Yonhap News

Lee Jung-hoo hit San Diego right-hander Nick Pivetta's 78.2-mile low curve on the third pitch for a double in front of right field in his first at-bat in the bottom of the first inning, trailing 0-2. Right fielder Tatis Jr. tried to catch it on a one-bound basis, but Lee Jung-hoo ran to second base and was safe while the ball slid slightly and ran sideways. The local recorder initially handled it with a hit and a one-error, then corrected it to a double. However, he failed to advance further due to the failure of the follow-up.

Lee Jung-hoo caught a difficult hit in the ensuing defense. In the top of the second inning, with two outs and runners on first base, Tatis Jr. ran a line drive to the right-center and cleared it with a sliding catch. The ball was caught 369 feet from a shooting angle of 20 degrees and a hitting speed of 106.1 miles. At that moment, the local NBC Sports broadcaster "Lee Jung-hoo catches it. Wow! That's a great play. Lee Jung-hoo!"

Lee Jung-hoo slides off Fernando Tatis Jr.'s line drive to the right-center in the top of the second inning. Photo = MLB.TV Capture

Lee Jung-hoo, who was out with a fly ball to center field in the fourth inning, hit another double in his third at-bat in the sixth inning, trailing 1-5. After one out, he hit a 93.9-mile high fastball on Pivetta's fourth pitch, sending a slightly missed hit to the left-field line and running to second base. Chapman then hit a two-run homer to left, narrowing the gap to 3-5.

Lee Jung-hoo then added an RBI single with a sacrifice fly in the fourth at-bat, leading to a 6-5 turnaround. San Francisco added two runs with Ramos' left double in the bottom of the seventh inning, trailing 3-5. Lee Jung-hoo hit right-hander Jason Adam's 86.8-mile changeup in the middle of the first pitch, sending a 309-foot sacrifice fly to right-center to bring third baseman Tyler Fitzgerald home.

Prior to the game, San Francisco sent out first baseman Lamont Wade Jr. and catcher Sam Huff as designated assignments and sent utility man Christian Koss down to Triple-A. Instead, he signed veteran first baseman Dominic Smith, who was released by the New York Yankees on the 3rd, on a one-year contract, and called catcher Andrew Kezner and outfielder Daniel Johnson from Triple-A. It was a lineup reform plan that has been silent for the last two to three weeks. Smith and Johnson started the game as first baseman and right fielder, respectively.

Just in time, the lineup showed a scary concentration in the second half of the game and won a great victory. After the game, manager Bob Melvin said, "(When Ramos doubled in the seventh inning), the fans shouted the loudest this season. It created an atmosphere that he could not pick a point against the top NL pitcher and win with a 0-5 deficit. The moment we felt we had a chance now, he said, referring to the match.

San Francisco, which finished the three consecutive games with one win and two losses, secured the third place in the NL West with 34 wins and 28 losses. It is two games behind second-place San Diego (35 wins and 25 losses).

This article was translated by Naver AI translator.