Hot-hitting Lee Jung-hoo acknowledges his 236th

San Diego Padres Yuki Matsui (29) was impressed with the performance of San Francisco Giants' Lee Jung-hoo (26).

Lee went 1-for-3 with a walk and a strikeout in his first Major League Baseball spring training exhibition game at the Oakland Coliseum in Oakland, California, USA, on April 26 (local time). His hitting streak came to an unfortunate halt after three games, but he is still hitting over .300 in exhibition play.

Lee joined Nexen (now Kiwoom) as the first overall pick in the 2017 rookie draft and has been one of the best hitters in the KBO, batting .344 (3476-for-1181) with 65 home runs, 515 RBIs and an OPS of .898 in 884 games. In his rookie year, he won the Rookie of the Year award after batting .329 (179-for-552) with two home runs, 47 RBI, 111 runs scored, 12 doubles, and an OPS of .812 in 144 games.

In 2022, Lee batted .349 (193-for-553) with 23 homers, 113 RBIs and a .996 OPS in 142 games, winning five batting titles (batting average, slugging percentage, on-base percentage, total bases and RBIs) and the league MVP award, and despite an ankle injury that ended his season prematurely last year before he reached the majors, Lee batted .301 (105-for-330) with six homers, 45 RBIs and a .861 OPS in 86 games. 861 in 86 games and signed a six-year, $113 million contract with San Francisco. It is the largest contract ever for a KBO player to reach the major leagues.

San Francisco gave Lee Jung-hoo, who hasn't played a single game in the major leagues, a massive contract worth over $100 million. It is the fifth-largest contract in franchise history, behind only Buster Posey (nine years, $167 million), Johnny Cueto (six years, $130 million), Matt Cain (six years, $127.5 million), and Barry Zito (seven years, $126 million). The Giants have high hopes for Lee. Manager Bob Melvin plans to use Lee as the leadoff center fielder this season. In 12 games of exhibition play, Lee is batting hot with a .990 OPS in 32 at-bats (12-for-32) with one home run, five doubles, six RBIs, six runs scored, and two stolen bases.

Matsui, a former Nippon Professional Baseball closer who signed a five-year, $28 million (approx. 37.6 billion won) contract with San Diego of the National League West this offseason, also recognized Lee's outstanding skills.

Matsui, who has a career record of 501 games (659⅔ innings), 25 wins, 46 losses, 76 saves, and 236 relief appearances with a 2.40 ERA in Nippon Professional Baseball, was dominant in 2021 with a 2-2 record, 24 saves, and a 0.63 ERA in 43 games (43 innings) and a 1.57 ERA in 59 games (57⅓ innings) with 8 saves and 39 relief appearances last year. He realized his dream of making his major league debut by pitching in both games of the 'MLB World Tour Seoul Series 2024 with Coupang Play' against the Los Angeles Dodgers at the Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul on the 20th and 21st. His performance in the Seoul Series was good, with an ERA of 0.00 in two games (1⅓ innings) and one hold.

With his dream of making his major league debut already fulfilled, Matsui is looking forward to making his Petco Park debut in a four-game homestand against San Francisco starting on Sept. 29. "I think (Lee) is really good," Matsui said in an interview on Sept. 21. He has really good contact, and he showed very good hitting ability in the WBC. I think he's a really good player," said Matsui, who is looking forward to facing Lee.

Matsui, a left-handed pitcher, will likely face Lee, a left-handed hitter. Fans are eager to see how Lee and Matsui will match up in the opening four games between San Diego and San Francisco.