SF Lee Jung-hoo returns to the starting lineup three days after being caught up in trade rumors, center fielder No. 7 against the New York Mets

Jul 26, 2025

Now even the public sentiment of home fans has become ferocious. Lee Jung-hoo must prove his worth on his own.

Lee Jung-hoo, who was in a serious batting slump again in the second half of the year, was listed in the starting lineup in three days. With the expectations of the bench and the approval rating of San Francisco's home fans falling significantly, it was a moment to show his value.

San Francisco will play its home game against the New York Mets at Oracle Park in San Francisco, California on the morning of the 26th (Korea time). San Francisco has been on a two-game winning streak since its last six consecutive losses. On the 23rd and 24th, the batters exploded for the first time in a long time in Atlanta, scoring nine points in a row and winning all of them. He will continue this momentum home and try to win three consecutive games.

Lee Jung-hoo did not contribute much to the team's winning streak. He came out as the first center fielder against Atlanta on the 23rd, but had no hits and one walk in four at-bats. In the end, he was completely excluded from the starting lineup in the game on the 24th. As Lee Jung-hoo fell into a slump with a batting average of 0.190 (4 hits in 21 at-bats) in five games in the second half of the year, manager Bob Melvin gave the extreme remedy to exclude him from playing. Since the 25th is Lee Dong-il, Lee Jung-hoo was able to take a good rest for two days and buy time to reorganize his batting and confidence. Resting can be a good opportunity to get out of the slump.

Coach Melvin, who returned home, called Lee Jung-hoo again for the third consecutive game.

On this day, San Francisco's lineup was formed in the order of Eliot Ramos (left fielder), Raphael Devers (first baseman), Willy Adames (striker), Matt Chapman (third baseman), Mike Yastremski (right fielder), Wilmer Flores (designated hitter), Lee Jung-hoo (center fielder), Casey Schmitz (second baseman), and Patrick Bailey (catcher). The starting pitcher will be ace Logan Webb.

It's Webb's 10th win. Webb is 9-7 with a 3.08 ERA. After harvesting his ninth win against the Los Angeles Dodgers on the 12th, his last appearance in the first half, he failed to add a victory for two weeks due to overlapping All-Star breaks. He became a losing pitcher with four runs in six innings against Toronto on the 20th, his first appearance in the second half.

The Mets started right-hander Clay Holmes. He has an 8-5 record with a 3.45 ERA this year. Holmes, who made his major league debut with the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2018, moved to the New York Yankees during the 2021 season and played as a closer for the New York Yankees until last year. He also played in the All-Star Game twice as a closing pitcher.

However, he made a different transformation after moving to the Mets ahead of this season. Holmes, who played only as a bullpen pitcher, turned into a full-time starter for the first time for the Mets this year, in his eighth year in the big league. So far, it is a successful transformation. He has already recorded the most wins in his personal season (8 wins) and is moving toward the most wins in his career season. Attention is focusing on whether Lee Jung-hoo will be able to achieve a meaningful result in his first match against Holmes.

Reporter Lee Won-man wman@sportschosun.com

This article was translated by Naver AI translator.