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San Francisco Giants catcher Lee Jung-hoo is still trying to adapt himself to the Major League. He has played just 14 games.

San Francisco won the 2024 Major League Tampa Bay Rays by a large margin, 11-2 at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida on Wednesday. San Francisco repaid its loss the previous day, and now has six wins and nine losses.

On the day, Lee started as center fielder as the first batter and recorded one hit and one run from five times at bat. He continued his streak of hits in five consecutive games, and showed off his presence by hitting his second double in his career in the big leagues. Having failed to produce more hits, Lee's batting average edged down to 0.246.

Lee hit an 86.4 miles 139 kilometers changeup off Ryan Pepiot as the leadoff hitter in the first inning. However, the ball was caught by shortstop Jose Cavallero. The ball rolled toward the center, but Cavallero blocked the road and raised the out count.

Lee Jung-hoo took the batter's box for the second time with no runner in the third inning with his team leading 1-0. He swung the bat at Peppiott's 96.1 mile fastball. He aimed at fastballs that came in on the outside. Lee, who does not swing and miss, failed to hit the bat accurately this time.

However, Lee took the batter's box for the third time with two outs and no runners in the fifth inning, and hit a double. He hit the 88.8-mile 143 kilometers slider on his second pitch. The ball flew sharply toward the right fence. Lee checked the position of the ball and moved to the second base. It was the moment when Lee garnered a hit in five consecutive games. San Francisco Giants, where Lee created a scoring chance, widened the gap due to the homerun of its follow-up batter Almonte Wade Jr.

In the sixth inning, he had multiple hit opportunities. Lee took the fourth batter's box with runners on the second and third bases with one out, and hit a fastball of 92.2 miles 148 km by new pitcher Chris Devinsky. He made a sharp hit, but was caught as a liner to the shortstop. U.S. media also expressed regret over the scene, saying it was quite regrettable. Moreover, shortstop Caballero tagged out a runner on the second base, which led to a double play. Lee's facial expression also expressed deep regret.

He also stepped down as an exception in the eighth inning when his team was leading 10-1. The fifth player, Lee Jung-hoo, pitched the bat on 83.2 miles 134 kilometers fastball by catcher Ben Lotbet, but the ball rolled toward the first baseman without any effort.

With Lee Jung-hoo hitting a double, San Francisco smashed Tampa Bay with five home runs.


The San Francisco Chronicle focused on Lee Jung-hoo's performance. "Before the start of the season, there was a lot of talk about how Lee would adapt to the pitches of Major League pitchers," the media said. "However, it turns out that Lee is hardly affected by the fast arresting of new types of pitchers and Major League pitchers," adding that Lee is adjusting smoothly to the Major League.

The San Francisco Chronicle also said, "Lee Jung-hoo saw 217 pitches in the game against Tampa Bay. Among them, he made five swings at the ball that came outside the strike zone. Lee only has a 13 percent chance of putting the bat on the manned ball. This is far below the Major League average of 22 percent," adding, "Lee is going through a period of adaptation, but he is making good progress."

As for the reason why Lee is adjusting to the U.S. stage smoothly, he said, "Lee makes plans whenever he enters the batter's box. He is skipping trials and errors." This shows how much Lee studies about opposing pitchers before the game.

Bob Melvin said he didn't care too much about Lee's hitting a ground ball. "Lee is hitting a ground ball right now. We need to adjust. But that doesn't seem to affect Lee. Lee has a plan every time he takes the batter's box," Melvin said.

The coach believes that he is still producing quality hits. The San Francisco Chronicle reported that Lee Jeong-hoo's hard hit ratio was 49 percent at the game against Tampa Bay on Saturday. His batting speed was 95 miles 153 kilometers. His strikeout ratio is 8.5 percent, which is still among the top 2 percent in the league.