{"id":33357,"date":"2026-06-13T07:15:36","date_gmt":"2026-06-13T07:15:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/trendifyhubusa.com\/index.php\/2026\/06\/13\/jung-hoo-lees-18-game-hit-streak-has-helped-ignite-sf-giants-offense\/"},"modified":"2026-06-13T07:15:36","modified_gmt":"2026-06-13T07:15:36","slug":"jung-hoo-lees-18-game-hit-streak-has-helped-ignite-sf-giants-offense","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/trendifyhubusa.com\/index.php\/2026\/06\/13\/jung-hoo-lees-18-game-hit-streak-has-helped-ignite-sf-giants-offense\/","title":{"rendered":"Jung Hoo Lee\u2019s 18-game hit streak has helped ignite SF Giants\u2019 offense"},"content":{"rendered":"


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Giants right fielder Jung\u00a0Hoo Lee collects his fourth hit of the game Monday against the\u00a0Washington Nationals at Oracle Park.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

<\/span>Carlos Avila Gonzalez\/S.F. Chronicle<\/span><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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In a different era, Jung Hoo Lee<\/a>\u2019s numbers would have the baseball world\u2019s full attention.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Most notably, his batting average\u00a0\u2014 a statistic that has lost some of its historic luster with the introduction of advanced metrics that can explain more thoroughly a player\u2019s impact at the plate on his team\u2019s run-scoring.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Nevertheless, through Wednesday Lee was batting .338 for the\u00a0San Francisco Giants<\/a>, the second-highest average in baseball behind Miami\u2019s Otto Lopez. Lee\u2019s MLB-leading 18-game hitting streak dating to May 14\u00a0\u2014 interrupted by an eight-game absence due to a back strain\u00a0\u2014 against the Los Angeles Dodgers pushed that average from .265 at the streak\u2019s start.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Lee is the first Giant since Angel Pagan in 2016 to keep a hitting streak alive at least 18 games; Pagan\u2019s lasted 19. It\u2019s a streak so impressive and timely that Lee could hit his way into All-Star consideration.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cI just notice Jung Hoo\u2019s comfortability in his own skin,\u201d manager Tony Vitello<\/a> said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Giants right fielder Jung\u00a0Hoo Lee rounds second base against the Washington Nationals on Monday at Oracle Park.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

<\/span>Carlos Avila Gonzalez\/S.F. Chronicle<\/span><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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That simple statistic is enough to explain Lee\u2019s impact on the Giants offense, which leads the league in some evaluative stats since Lee\u2019s hitting streak began last month. Over 26 games since May 14 the Giants lead with 133 weighted runs created-plus (where 100 wRC+ is the average), .839 OPS, .362 weighted on-base average and, yes, a .284 average. They\u2019re scoring over 5.5 runs per game in that span, good for third in MLB. And their strikeout rate also dropped to 19.5%, albeit while carrying a league-low 6.8% walk rate.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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In a lot of ways, the offense has been following Lee\u2019s lead: They\u2019re staying aggressive, generating plenty of contact and making it count. Few walks, few strikeouts, but lots of pressure on opposing pitchers and defenses, creating opportunities.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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That\u2019s Lee\u2019s game, as the Giants banked on when they signed him for $113 million over six years out of the Korea Baseball Organization in 2024.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cI think the feel is there. I\u2019ve been swinging aggressively on strikes,\u201d Lee said with Giants translator Justin Han interpreting on Monday, after one of his four games with four or more hits during this streak. \u201cThe timing and balance are there at the same time. I\u2019m getting good results out of what I\u2019m doing right now.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Giants right fielder Jung\u00a0Hoo Lee gestures to teammates Tuesday after hitting a single against the Washington Nationals at Oracle Park.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

<\/span>Jed Jacobsohn\/Associated Press<\/span><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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Lee has been an offensive engine, but other Giants are heating up alongside him.\u00a0Matt Chapman<\/a> had a four-hit, two-home run game in their unlikely comeback win on Wednesday, and over his past 26 games (since May 14), he \u2019s batting .319 with five home runs, nine doubles and 23 RBIs.\u00a0Bryce Eldridge<\/a>, Wednesday\u2019s hero for his\u00a0walk-off grand slam<\/a>, is along for the ride, batting .397 with a 1.175 OPS in the 17 games he\u2019s played since becoming a regular.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Lee\u2019s hot hitting is a driver for this team-wide offensive success. He and Luis Arraez<\/a>\u00a0\u2014 who has maintained a high batting average all season and sits fourth in baseball with a .327 average\u00a0\u2014 are showing that a potent offense doesn\u2019t have to depend on over-the-fence power alone.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Admittedly, Lee\u2019s time in San Francisco has been erratic. A dislocated shoulder requiring season-ending surgery cut short his rookie year in 2024. His second year was consequently one of adjusting to MLB\u2019s demanding workload and the more consistent quality of pitching in the majors compared to the KBO.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Lee spoke candidly about how his trouble adjusting led to an ultimately disappointing 2025 in which he batted .266 with a .327 on-base percentage, while also handling center field in one of the worst defensive outfields in baseball. But he\u2019s made the adjustment and started coming into his own.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cI think the full season last year helped a lot,\u201d Lee said. \u201cLast year was really good and I feel that I\u2019m still adjusting to the league right now.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Giants right fielder Jung Hoo Lee said he began to feel more comfortable in 2025 in his\u00a0second\u00a0major-league campaign. \u201cLast year was really good and I feel that I\u2019m still adjusting to the league right now,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

<\/span>Kayla Wolf\/Associated Press<\/span><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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Within this 18-game hitting streak, Lee has nine multi-hit games while batting .500. He has three total strikeouts, while also contributing five doubles, a triple and a home run. And one walk, a couple of times hit by a pitch and three stolen bases.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Statcast estimates that Lee has some of the best contact tendencies in baseball. His 10% strikeout rate is in the 98th percentile and his 12.9% whiff rate in the 97th percentile. When he does swing, he\u2019s squaring the ball up at a high rate of 37.5% (98th). His .319 expected batting average is in the 100th percentile.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The numbers document what\u2019s happening in his at-bats. Pitchers who once flummoxed him, he\u2019s seeing a lot better now. No moment best captured that than when he challenged and got overturned a strike call that was a ball \u2014 by less than a one-10th of an inch.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Lee is well aware of the zone, and now, having settled into life as a big-league regular\u00a0\u2014 and potentially a star\u00a0\u2014 it shows.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n


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Giants right fielder Jung\u00a0Hoo Lee collects his fourth hit of the game Monday against the\u00a0Washington Nationals at Oracle Park. Carlos<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":33358,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_animmysite_disable_animation":false,"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/s.hdnux.com\/photos\/01\/66\/42\/75\/31076202\/3\/rawImage.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[213],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-33357","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-trending-sports-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/trendifyhubusa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33357","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/trendifyhubusa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/trendifyhubusa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trendifyhubusa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trendifyhubusa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33357"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/trendifyhubusa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33357\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trendifyhubusa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/33358"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/trendifyhubusa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33357"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trendifyhubusa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33357"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trendifyhubusa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33357"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}