Jung-hoo Lee (; born August 20, 1998) is a South Korean professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to catch ...

for the

San Francisco Giants The San Francisco Giants are an American professional baseball team based in San Francisco. The Giants compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Div ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

(MLB). He has previously played in the

KBO League The KBO League () is a professional baseball league in South Korea. The league comprises ten teams. The KBO League was founded with six franchises in 1982 and is the most popular sports league in South Korea. The Kia Tigers are the most success ...

for the

Kiwoom Heroes The Kiwoom Heroes () are a South Korean professional baseball, professional baseball team based in Seoul. They are a member of the KBO League. The Heroes play their home games at Gocheok Sky Dome in Gocheok-dong, a neighborhood located in the sou ...

. Lee won the

KBO League Rookie of the Year Award The KBO League Rookie of the Year Award is given to the player judged the best first-year player in the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) KBO League, League. The most recent winner is Jung-hoo Lee, Lee Jung-hoo of the Nexen Heroes. Award winners ...

in 2017 and the

KBO League Most Valuable Player Award The KBO League Most Valuable Player Award is given to the player judged the most valuable player in the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) League. The most recent winner is Kim Do-yeong of the Kia Tigers The Kia Tigers () are a South Korean pro ...

in 2022. He won five consecutive Golden Glove Awards from 2018 to 2022. Lee has also played for the South Korea national baseball team at the

2019 WBSC Premier12 The 2019 WBSC Premier12 was an international baseball championship featuring the 12 highest-ranked national teams in the world, held by the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC). It was the second WBSC Premier12 event. The championship w ...

2020 Summer Olympics The officially the and officially branded as were an international multi-sport event that was held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some of the preliminary sporting events beginning on 21 July 2021. Tokyo ...

and the

2023 World Baseball Classic The 2023 World Baseball Classic (WBC) was an international professional baseball tournament and the fifth iteration of the World Baseball Classic. It began on March 8, 2023, and ran until March 21. It was originally scheduled to take place in ...

. He is the son of

Lee Jong-beom Lee Jong-beom (; born August 15, 1970) is a former South Korean professional baseball player who played for the Kia Tigers (formerly the Haitai Tigers) in the KBO League and the Chunichi Dragons in Japan from 1998 to 2001. He is nicknamed "Son ...

, who starred in the KBO League and earned the nickname "Son of the Wind," earning the younger Lee the moniker "Grandson of the Wind."

Early life

Lee was born on August 20, 1998, in

Nagoya is the largest city in the Chūbu region of Japan. It is the list of cities in Japan, fourth-most populous city in Japan, with a population of 2.3million in 2020, and the principal city of the Chūkyō metropolitan area, which is the List of ...

, Japan, when his father was playing in

Nippon Professional Baseball is a professional baseball league and the highest level of baseball in Japan. Locally, it is often called , meaning simply ''Professional Baseball''; outside of Japan, NPB is often referred to as "Japanese baseball". The roots of the league ...

(NPB) for the

Chunichi Dragons The are a professional baseball team based in Nagoya, the chief city in the Chūbu region of Japan. The team plays in the Central League of Nippon Professional Baseball. They have won the Central League pennant nine times (most recently in 2011 ...

. In a profile of his father when Lee Jung-hoo was seven years old, he was already attracting attention for his devotion to baseball and his skill at the game.

Professional career

Nexen / Kiwoom Heroes

The

Nexen Heroes The Kiwoom Heroes () are a South Korean professional baseball team based in Seoul. They are a member of the KBO League. The Heroes play their home games at Gocheok Sky Dome in Gocheok-dong, a neighborhood located in the southwestern part of Se ...

selected Lee in the 2017 KBO League

draft Draft, the draft, or draught may refer to: Watercraft dimensions * Draft (hull), the distance from waterline to keel of a vessel * Draft (sail), degree of curvature in a sail * Air draft, distance from waterline to the highest point on a v ...

(held in 2016), as an infielder. Following

spring training Spring training, also called spring camp, is the preseason of the Summer Professional Baseball Leagues, such as Major League Baseball (MLB), and it is a series of practices and exhibition games preceding the start of the regular season. Spri ...

, Lee was included on the team's

Opening Day Opening Day is the day on which professional baseball leagues begin their regular season. For Major League Baseball (MLB) and most of the American minor leagues, this day typically falls during the first week of April, although in recent year ...

roster at age 18 without going through the

KBO Futures League KBO Futures League () or Korea Baseball Futures League is South Korea's second level of baseball, below the KBO League. It serves as a farm league with the purpose to develop professional players on-demand to play in the KBO League. The league ...

. Converted to 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 voted

. In 2018, Lee batted .355/.412/.477. In 2019 he batted .336/.386/.456. In 2019, he won series MVP in the playoffs. His father,

, won the MVP award in the 1993

Korean Series The Korean Series () is the final championship series of the KBO League. It has been held since the KBO League's first season in and is the final series of the post-season play-offs. From to 2013, the winner of the Korean Series went on to play ...

, with a batting average of .310 (9 hits in 29 at-bats) and three steals, the most in a game. With Lee Jung-hoo's selection, it became the first time in the KBO that both father and son won a postseason MVP award. Lee won another Golden Glove Award in 2020 with a batting line of .333, 15 home runs, 101 RBIs, and a career-high OPS of .921. In the 2021 season, Lee batted .360/.438/.522. On October 25 at Daejeon Hanwha Life Eagles Park, Lee

hit for the cycle Hit means to strike someone or something. Hit or HIT may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Fictional entities * Hit, a fictional character from '' Dragon Ball Super'' * Homicide International Trust or HIT, a fictional organization ...

against the

Samsung Lions The Samsung Lions () are a South Korean professional baseball team founded in 1982. They are based in the southeastern city of Daegu and are members of the KBO League. Their home stadium is Daegu Samsung Lions Park. They have won the Korean Cha ...

. In the 2022 season, Lee played in 142 games and hit .349/.421/.575 with 23 home runs and 113 RBIs. After the season, he won the

. In 2023, Lee played in 85 games for Kiwoom, and hit .319/.407/.456 with six home runs and 45 RBIs. On July 25, 2023, it was announced that Lee would undergo season–ending surgery after suffering a fractured ankle. On December 4, Lee was officially posted to

(MLB) by the Heroes.

San Francisco Giants

On December 14, 2023, Lee signed a six-year, $113 million contract with the

. The Giants also had to pay an additional posting fee of $18.825 million to the Heroes. Lee hit his first home run in MLB on March 30, 2024, against the

San Diego Padres The San Diego Padres are an American professional baseball team based in San Diego. The Padres compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Division. ...

. Family members, including his father, were in attendance to witness the event. Lee suffered an injury to his left shoulder on May 12, and the Giants announced that he would undergo season–ending labrum surgery on May 17. In 37 games for the Giants, Lee had hit .262/.310/.331 with 2 home runs and 8 RBI.

International career

Lee represented

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

at numerous international tournaments. Lee's first appearance in the international stage was at the 2016

U-18 Baseball World Cup The U-18 Baseball World Cup is the 18-and-under baseball world championship sanctioned by the International Baseball Federation (IBAF) and its successor, the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC), and was first held in 1981 in the United S ...

, as South Korea won the tournament. Lee then went onto represent the national team in the

2017 Asia Professional Baseball Championship The 2017 Asia Professional Baseball Championship (APBC 2017), sanctioned by the World Baseball Softball Confederation The World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) is the international Sports governing body, governing body for the sports ...

, where South Korea placed 2nd overall. In the

2018 Asian Games The 2018 Asian Games ( or ''Asian Games 2018''), officially known as the 18th Asian Games (), and also known as Jakarta-Palembang 2018 or Indonesia 2018, were a Asia, continental multi-sport event that was held from 18 August to 2 September 201 ...

, Lee delivered the winning RBI against

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

on November 17. He also played for Team Korea at the

tournament, and led the tournament with five doubles. Lee went on to represent

at the

Tokyo 2020 Olympics The officially the and officially branded as were an international multi-sport event that was held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some of the preliminary sporting events beginning on 21 July 2021. Tokyo ...

and the

as well.

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lee, Jung-hoo 1998 births Living people 2023 World Baseball Classic players Asian Games gold medalists for South Korea Asian Games medalists in baseball Baseball people from Nagoya Baseball players at the 2018 Asian Games Baseball players at the 2020 Summer Olympics KBO League outfielders KBO League Rookie of the Year Award winners Kiwoom Heroes players 21st-century South Korean sportsmen Major League Baseball outfielders Major League Baseball players from Japan Major League Baseball players from South Korea Medalists at the 2018 Asian Games Olympic baseball players for South Korea San Francisco Giants players Whimoon High School alumni World Baseball Classic players of South Korea