Amateur-level judgments are tormenting Lee Jung-hoo. He has adapted to the major league stage, but the strange calls from umpires are still hard to get used to.

Lee Jung-hoo started as the No. 3 center fielder in the '2025 Major League' game against the San Diego Padres at Petco Park in San Diego, California, on the 1st (Korean time), recording 1 hit and 1 RBI in 4 at-bats. He has recorded hits in 7 consecutive games and RBIs in 2 consecutive games. His season batting average has dropped to .319, and his OPS is .901.

In a situation where his hitting feel has slightly dropped, Lee Jung-hoo continues to add one hit at a time, maintaining his 'record defense.' However, what is hindering him is not the opposing pitchers, but the umpires.

The home plate umpire for the game was Phil Cuzzi, a familiar yet unwelcome figure for Lee Jung-hoo. Lee Jung-hoo experienced an incident with Phil Cuzzi on the 18th of last month at Citizen Bank Park in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in a game against the Philadelphia Phillies. With 2 outs and nobody on in the 9th inning, trailing 4-6, Lee Jung-hoo came in as a pinch hitter. The third pitch was a 99.5 mph sinker that came in low after a 1 ball 1 strike count. It entered the lower part of the strike zone, and umpire Phil Cuzzi called it a strike. At that moment, Lee Jung-hoo was fiddling with his helmet. At that point, umpire Phil Cuzzi said something to Lee Jung-hoo.

According to media reports at the time, umpire Phil Cuzzi misunderstood Lee Jung-hoo's action of tapping his helmet as a request to challenge the ABS judgment that had been trialed during spring training this year. The then crew chief Dan Bellino said to local reporters, 'What happened during the spring training period is related to that. In Major League Baseball, players are now not allowed to tap their helmets. That is considered protesting a strike ball decision. It is akin to protesting a call.' He added, 'Of course, I do not know if Lee Jung-hoo was actually protesting. Umpire Phil Cuzzi told him, 'Even if you do not agree with the call, tapping your head can make it look like you are protesting the decision, so do not do that.' However, it seems there was a language barrier, and Lee Jung-hoo did not fully understand what the umpire was saying. There seems to have been such a misunderstanding.'

However, Lee Jung-hoo is wearing a helmet that does not fit the size of his head. So, he fiddled with the helmet to adjust it. However, umpire Phil Cuzzi interpreted this scene as challenging his authority. Although the misunderstanding was cleared up later, it could have been unclear and hard to understand from Lee Jung-hoo's perspective.

However, the umpire Phil Cuzzi, whom he met again that day, tormented Lee Jung-hoo in another way. He disadvantaged Lee Jung-hoo with ball calls. From the first inning, it was not easy for Lee Jung-hoo. In his first at-bat of the inning, a 78.8 mph sweeper from San Diego starter Michael King came in outside the strike zone. Yet, umpire Cuzzi declared it a strike. It was a pitch that clearly missed the strike zone on MLB.com's Game Day. In a 1-strike situation, Lee Jung-hoo targeted the second pitch but was retired on a routine fly ball to third base.

In the second at-bat of the fourth inning, there were no particular judgment issues, and he was out on a routine pop fly to right field. In his third at-bat in the 6th inning, with 2 outs and runners on first and third, there was again a judgment issue. He took a favorable count of 3 balls against Michael King. However, the fourth pitch, a 91.2 mph sinker outside, was ruled a strike. This was another pitch that had clearly missed the zone, but it was called a strike. In a 3-ball 1-strike count, it could have shaken his confidence psychologically. However, on the fifth pitch, he targeted the ball and hit a ground ball single to first base, bringing in the runner from third.

In his last at-bat in the 8th inning with 1 out and 1 runner on base, Lee Jung-hoo ended up with a fly ball to left field. This at-bat also started with a count of 3 balls. However, the fourth pitch, a 93.6 mph outside four-seamer, was ruled a strike. The fifth pitch, a changeup on the inside, was also called a strike. All of these pitches were confirmed to be in the strike zone on MLB.com's Game Day. After the fifth pitch came in, Lee Jung-hoo judged it a ball and gestured to walk, but ultimately, on the sixth pitch, he was late on the timing and hit a fly ball to left field.

In many ways, Lee Jung-hoo faced unfavorable strike calls throughout the day. Coincidentally, it was an umpire with whom he had a previous incident.

This is not all. On the 26th of last month, Lee Jung-hoo was wrongly called out due to a bad judgment in a game against the Texas Rangers held at Oracle Park in California, USA. In the 9th inning, while trying to avoid a pitch that was coming towards him, the ball hit the bat. In the process of trying to avoid the ball, Lee Jung-hoo's bat swung around. However, the umpire did not realize that the ball hit the bat and ruled that the ball hit him, declaring him out on a swing-and-miss Samjin. The umpires ignored what everyone saw on the screen and heard.

Lee Jung-hoo is being tormented by strange calls just when he thinks he can forget about them. He is already regarded as an All-Star caliber player, having adapted to Major League Baseball. Yet, it remains difficult for him to get used to the strange calls from umpires. When will Lee Jung-hoo be able to stop suffering from these 'amateur' calls?

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