| Jung Hoo Lee | |||||||||||||||
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 Lee in 2025 | |||||||||||||||
| San Francisco Giants – No. 51 | |||||||||||||||
| Outfielder | |||||||||||||||
| Born: (1998-08-20)August 20, 1998 (age 27) Nagoya, Aichi, Japan[1] | |||||||||||||||
Bats: Left Throws: Right | |||||||||||||||
| Professional debut | |||||||||||||||
| KBO: April 1, 2017, for the Nexen Heroes | |||||||||||||||
| MLB: March 28, 2024, for the San Francisco Giants | |||||||||||||||
| KBO statistics (through 2023 season) | |||||||||||||||
| Batting average | .340 | ||||||||||||||
| Home runs | 65 | ||||||||||||||
| Runs batted in | 515 | ||||||||||||||
| MLB statistics (through 2025 season) | |||||||||||||||
| Batting average | .265 | ||||||||||||||
| Home runs | 10 | ||||||||||||||
| Runs batted in | 63 | ||||||||||||||
Stats atBaseball Reference  | |||||||||||||||
| Teams | |||||||||||||||
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| Career highlights and awards | |||||||||||||||
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Medals | |||||||||||||||
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Jung Hoo Lee (Korean: 이정후; born August 20, 1998) is a South Korean professionalbaseballoutfielder for theSan Francisco Giants ofMajor League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in theKBO League for theKiwoom Heroes.
Lee won theKBO League Rookie of the Year Award in 2017 and theKBO League Most Valuable Player Award in 2022. He won five consecutiveGolden Glove Awards from 2018 to 2022. Lee has also played for the South Korea national baseball team at the2019 WBSC Premier12,2020 Summer Olympics and the2023 World Baseball Classic.
He is the son ofLee Jong-beom, a star player in the KBO league and with the nickname "Son of the Wind,"[2][3][4] earning the younger Lee the moniker "Grandson of the Wind."[5][6]
Lee was born on August 20, 1998, inNagoya, Japan, when his father was playing inNippon Professional Baseball (NPB) for theChunichi Dragons.[7] After his father signed with theKIA Tigers in 2001, the family moved toGwangju, South Korea. They moved to Seoul in 2012 upon his father's retirement where Lee was enrolled in Whimoon Middle School and thenWhimoon High School, a prestigious sports-focused high school.
It is said that his father was initially against his son becoming a baseball player and tried to introduce him to other sports[8], but eventually gave in on the condition that Lee batted left-handed, despite being a right-hander. Upon doing this, he began to look up to Japanese starIchiro Suzuki, who was also a right-handed thrower/ left-handed batter, and picked the number 51 as his jersey number to honor him.[9] In a profile of his father, a 7-year old Jung-hoo was already attracting attention for his natural skill and commitment to the sport.[4]
TheNexen Heroes selected Lee in the first round of the 2017 KBO Leaguedraft (held in 2016) as an infielder along withKim Hye-seong, his future teammate and friend. Followingspring training, Lee was included on the team'sOpening Day roster at age 18 without playing in theKBO Futures League - theKBO minor leagues. Converted into an outfielder, Lee became the first rookie out of high school to appear in every game for a KBO team. He finished the season batting .324/.395/.417 with 2 home runs, 47 RBIs, 12 stolen bases, and 179 hits, which set a new rookie record for hits. At the conclusion of the season, Lee was votedKBO League Rookie of the Year Award.[10]
In 2018, Lee suffered a shoulder injury and was sidelined for 6 weeks but still improved on his rookie numbers with a slash line of .355/.412/.477 with 6 home runs and 57 RBIs by the end of the season. He also ended 3rd in the league in batting average.
In 2019, his slash line was .336/.386/.456 with 6 home runs and 68 RBIs while he was voted the MVP of the 2019 playoffs for the first time.
Lee won another Golden Glove Award in 2020[11] while his batting line was .333/.397/.524, with 15 home runs, 101 RBIs, and an OPS of .921.
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In the 2021 season, Lee batted .360/.438/.522 with 7 home runs, 84 RBIs, 10 stolen bases, an OPS of .959 and while leading the league in batting average. On October 25 atDaejeon Hanwha Life Eagles Park, Leehit for the cycle against theSamsung Lions.
During the 2022 season, Lee played in 142 games and hit .349/.421/.575 with 23 home runs, 113 RBIs, a 5.1% strikeout rate, and a career-high OPS of .996. He became the youngest and fastest player in KBO history to reach 1000 hits at 23 years old in 747 games, a record previously held by his father who achieved the feat in 779 games. After the season, he won theKBO League Most Valuable Player Award.[12] while placing first in the league in batting average, hits, RBIs, on-base percentage, and slugging percentage. He also received the playoff MVP once again.
In 2023, Lee became captain of the Heroes and played in 85 games for Kiwoom, while hitting .319/.407/.456 with 6 home runs and 45 RBIs. On July 25, 2023, it was announced that Lee would undergo season–ending surgery after suffering a fractured ankle.[13] On December 4, Lee was officially posted toMajor League Baseball (MLB) by the Heroes.[14]
On December 14, 2023, Lee signed a six-year, $113 million contract with theSan Francisco Giants.[15][16] The Giants also had to pay a posting fee of $18.825 million to the Heroes.[17] Lee hit his first home run in MLB on March 30, 2024, against theSan Diego Padres inPetco Park. Family members, including his father, were in attendance to witness the event. Lee suffered an injury to his left shoulder after crashing into the wall trying to catch a flyout ball on May 12, and the Giants announced that he would undergo season–ending labrum surgery on May 17.[18] In 37 games for the Giants, Lee hit .262/.310/.331 with 2 home runs and 8 RBI.
In the 2025 season with the Giants, Lee played in 150 games and slashed .266/.327/.407 with 8 homeruns, 55 RBIs, and 10 stolen bases. He led the team in batting average, base running value, strikeout rate, doubles (31), and triples (12). On September 26, he hit his 12th triple of the season which landed him in 3rd place for the most triples in all MLB (2nd in the NL) and tied the record for the most triples by an Asian player in a season, previously held by his idol Ichiro Suzuki.[19]
Lee has representedSouth Korea at numerous international tournaments.
Lee's first appearance on the international stage was at the 2016U-18 Baseball World Cup, as South Korea won the tournament. Lee then went on to represent the national team in the2017 Asia Professional Baseball Championship, where South Korea placed 2nd overall.
In the2018 Asian Games, Lee delivered the winning RBI againstTaiwan on November 17.[20][21] He also played for Team Korea at the2019 WBSC Premier12 tournament, and led all players at the tournament with five doubles. Lee went on to representSouth Korea at theTokyo 2020 Olympics and the2023 World Baseball Classic as well.
Lee has been listed in the top 10 theForbes Korea Power Celebrity 40 List in both 2024 and 2025 at #6 and #7 respectively
He is also the Korean brand ambassador for brands such asAdidas,Red Bull, and USANA along with luxury brands such asDior,Louis Vuitton, andMcLaren.
McLaren Seoul told the press that "Lee was selected as the right person to embody the 'Bold McLaren' spirit with the spirit of challenge that constantly strives based on his exceptional skills and determination" with the car brand CEO gifting him a McLaren 750s supercar as a congratulatory present on his debut in the MLB.[22]
