Jung Hoo Lee has been everything the Giants hoped he would be, and possibly more, through 14 games in the 2025 MLB season.
It’s early, but the young center fielder has been San Francisco’s best all-around player this season and almost single-handedly lifted the Giants’ offense to a 5-4 series-clinching win over the New York Yankees on Sunday at Yankee Stadium.
With the Giants trailing 3-0 in the fourth inning, Lee blasted a solo home run to right field, his second of the series, to trim the deficit to two runs. Fast forward two innings, and San Francisco took a 4-3 lead over New York in the sixth on Lee’s clutch three-run home run.
Lee blasts his second homer of the series 💪 pic.twitter.com/F43QQVDXt2
— SF Giants on NBCS (@NBCSGiants) April 13, 2025
JUNG HOO LEE. AGAIN. GIANTS LEAD 😱 pic.twitter.com/tlMdN2NaUZ
— SF Giants on NBCS (@NBCSGiants) April 13, 2025
“To be able to come back after being down, obviously Jung Hoo had a big say in it … to come back and win a game like that in comeback fashion and then hold on at the end. It’s pretty rewarding and says a lot about our team at this point,” Giants manager Bob Melvin said postgame.
In three games against the Yankees, including Friday’s rain-shortened contest, Lee went 4-for-9 with three home runs, seven RBI and four walks.
Not bad for a Yankee Stadium debut.
Lee not only is off to a red-hot start this season, but he is having success against top pitchers he never has faced before. His two home runs on Sunday made him the first left-handed hitter ever to hit two home runs off Yankees lefty Carlos Rodón in the same game.
“It’s pretty remarkable in the fact that a lot of these guys he’s never faced before,” Melvin said of Lee’s success thus far. “He’s going to continue to face guys he’s never seen before, but that’s where the bat-to-ball skills come into play. He feels like he can put anybody in play when he’s seeing it good and he’s squaring it up, those are the kind of results you’re going to get.”
After Lee suffered a season-ending shoulder injury in mid-May last year, the then-rookie was resigned to a support role on the bench as he cheered on his new Giants teammates. Now healthy and playing like many within the organization believed he could, Lee’s teammates are eager to return the favor.
“We’re asking [translator Justin Han] when he goes up to hit ‘How do you say ‘Let’s go’ in Korean?’ and stuff like that. I’m going to feel real bad because I don’t remember what it is, but in the moment, you just start saying stuff, cheering him on in Korean,” Giants pitcher Logan Webb told reporters postgame.
“We can cheer him on instead of him cheering us on.”
The Giants saw flashes of Lee’s potential in 37 games last season, but nothing to this degree.
Lee currently is batting .352/.426/.704 with three home runs, 11 RBI, eight doubles, three stolen bases, seven walks and a 1.130 OPS in 54 at-bats.
“I think last year we were finally starting to see the potential, and then he got hurt and it’s starting to happen this year,” Webb added. “He looks super confident, he’s unbelievable in the outfield. Obviously, I’m a little biased, but he’s probably one of the best at putting the ball in play, making contact. Just seeing the power start to come, I feel like everyone’s been wanting to see that. It’s just cool to see him [succeed] because he’s such an amazing guy, great teammate and brings a lot of energy.”
The Giants will need more of that energy for the remainder of their difficult 10-day, three-city road trip and for the remainder of the 2025 season if they hope to sneak into the playoffs.
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