Giants’ Lee Jung-hoo returns to action in spring opener

San Francisco Giants outfielder Lee Jung-hoo, nicknamed the “Grandson of the Wind,” recorded the first hit in an official match in 290 days, offering a promising outlook for the upcoming season.

On Sunday, San Francisco had the first preseason game with Texas at Surprise Stadium in Arizona. Lee, who left the last season prematurely due to a shoulder injury on May 13 last year, started as the third batter and center fielder and garnered one hit in three at-bats, contributing to the team’s victory six to one.

Lee made a single on the first pitch of his first at-bat in the top of the first inning. With two outs and no runners on base, he swung immediately at the first pitch, a 92.3 mph fastball thrown by right-handed starting pitcher Tyler Mahle, flying it away at a speed of 105.1 mph and dropping it in front of the right fielder. It became his first hit in an official match since the last game against Colorado on May 9 last year.

However, after swinging and missing to strike out in the top of the third inning and grounding out to first base in the top of the fifth, he was replaced by Grant McCray on defense in the bottom of the fifth. Lee commented that he was thinking of swinging at the first pitch no matter what was coming, adding that as he wanted to pick up the pace quickly, he was pleased to have three at-bats in the first game.

Lee also did an impressive job on defense, catching fly balls at the bottom of the first and fourth innings. Particularly, he ran down to catch Evan Carter's ball, with an exit velocity of 103.7 mph and an expected batting average of 0.740, on the warning track in the bottom of the first inning.


Kyu-In Hwang kini@donga.com