It is not an exaggeration to say that Lee Jung-hoo is currently the most crucial player for the San Francisco Giants. However, there seems to be a somewhat low evaluation.
On the 18th, the sports media ESPN released its power rankings for the 30 Major League Baseball teams. Lee Jung-hoo's San Francisco ranked 4th overall. The media primarily mentioned Lee Jung-hoo when explaining San Francisco's current situation.
The media introduced, 'San Francisco is on the rise, and at the center of it is Lee Jung-hoo. Entering his second season with San Francisco, he is increasingly demonstrating his true value,' noting, 'especially highlighting the two home run game during last weekend's game in New York.'
'Lee Jung-hoo has recorded the most doubles in the league with 10 and his slugging percentage reaches .647 (as of the 17th),' the report stated, adding, 'especially when a mistake pitch comes, he does not let it go. He strikes it as hard as possible without missing the mistake pitch, and this contributes to his high slugging percentage. This year, he has already recorded twice as many extra-base hits as last year despite having not even filled half of last year’s plate appearances.' Lee Jung-hoo is leading the San Francisco offense based on his remarkable contact skills and dynamic play. He is also being treated as a regular player. In a game against the Philadelphia Phillies in Pennsylvania on the 18th, he rested without being in the starting lineup. However, in the top of the 9th inning, after being down 4-6 with two outs, he came in as a pinch hitter and recorded an infield single in a full-count battle against the left-hander Jose Alvarado.
Lee Jung-hoo's performance is soaring. He has a batting average of .348 (24 hits in 69 at-bats), with 3 home runs, 14 RBIs, 19 runs, and an OPS of 1.055. He continues to maintain first place in doubles in the Major League and is ranked 5th in batting average and 6th in OPS, showcasing league-leading production.
Additionally, he has recorded a Wins Above Replacement (WAR) of 1.3 according to FanGraphs, placing him 6th in the league. His Weighted Runs Created Plus (wRC+), which measures runs produced per plate appearance adjusted for league average and park factors, is 191, ranking him 7th overall. This means that compared to an average league hitter set at 100, Lee Jung-hoo is performing 91% better than the league average.
As of the 18th, with a record of 13 wins and 6 losses, the San Francisco Giants are surprisingly performing well, which would not have been possible without Lee Jung-hoo's contributions. However, the evaluation by MLB.com was somewhat harsh. On the 17th, they released the hitters' power rankings, and Lee Jung-hoo did not make it to the top 10.
MLB.com explained, 'The formula developed by the data team takes into account players’ recent performances, overall season performance, and performance from the past year, with the most weight placed on recent performances.' Nonetheless, Lee Jung-hoo did not make it into the top 10.
The top 1 in the hitter power rankings is Aaron Judge (New York Yankees), who has recovered with a monstrous performance of a .412 batting average, 7 home runs, and an OPS of 1.312. Following him are Pete Alonso (New York Mets), Corbin Carroll (Arizona Diamondbacks), Bobby Witt Jr. (Kansas City Royals), Fernando Tatis Jr. (San Diego Padres), Kyle Schwarber (Philadelphia Phillies), Shohei Ohtani (Los Angeles Dodgers), Kyle Tucker (Chicago Cubs), Tyler Soderstrom (Athletics), and Juan Soto (New York Mets).
Lee Jung-hoo has been listed among players who narrowly missed the top 10, alongside Marcel Ozuna and Austin Riley (both Atlanta Braves), and Jonathan Aranda (Minnesota Twins), and Kyren Paris (Los Angeles Angels).
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