The U.S. baseball statistics website “Fangraph Dotcom” has released an estimate of Lee Jung-hoo’s Major League performance. It is expected that Lee will play center field with above-average performance.
“Fangraph Dotcom” used the baseball prediction system ZiPS (SZymborski Projection System) on the 14th (Korea time) to predict that Lee Jung-hoo will wear a San Francisco uniform from 2024 to 2029.
Lee Jung-hoo confirmed his joining after undergoing a medical test at the San Francisco club on the 15th, Korean time. Earlier, local media in the U.S., including the official major league website ‘MLB.com ‘, reported on the 13th, “Lee Jung-hoo signed with the San Francisco Giants. It seems that the contract period is six years, a total of $113 million (about 149 billion won), and the opt-out clause after the end of the 2027 season is included.”
“Fangraph Dotcom” predicted that Lee Jung-hoo will record a batting average of 0.288 (137 hits in 476 at-bats) in the 2024 season, with eight home runs, 62 RBIs, 56 runs scored, and 0.762 OPS. 에볼루션 바카라사이트
He predicted a batting average of 0.288 nine homers and 63 RBIs OPS of 0.770, a batting average of 0.287 nine homers and 63 RBIs in the 2026 season, a batting average of 0.281 nine homers and 62 RBIs OPS of 0.752 in the 2027 season, a batting average of 0.282 nine homers and 61 RBIs OPS of 0.757 in the 2028 season, and a batting average of 0.281 eight homers and 58 RBIs OPS of 0.750 in the 2029 season.
The Fangraph website expects Lee to maintain his batting average above 0.280 throughout his contract with the San Francisco Giants. The OPS also assessed Lee’s potential to show high productivity by setting a minimum of 0.750 points.
Lee Jung-hoo entered the Major League with a cumulative record of 0.340, 1,181 hits, 65 homers and 515 RBIs in 884 games in the KBO League. This was largely due to the early end of the season due to ankle injury in this season (batting average 0.318), when he recorded a batting average of over .300 throughout his career and had the worst record.
Lee also excelled in pioneering work. In the 2019 season, when his on-base percentage was the lowest, he also recorded 0.386, which is about 500 percent higher than his on-base percentage of 0.336. His slugging percentage has exceeded at least 0.450 every year since 0.417 in the 2017 season when he was a rookie season.
FanGraph Dotcom said, “If Lee Jung-hoo improves this much, it is worth $113 million in six years,” adding, “Even if Lee Jung-hoo’s performance falls from his KBO days, there is no big problem.”
The number of center fielders who met the regulation requirements at the 30 MLB clubs this year is 12. Considering that the only two players who recorded a batting average of 0.280 or higher were Cody Bellinger of the Chicago Cubs (batting average of 0.307 with 26 homers and 97 RBIs with an OPS of 0.881), and Michael Harris II of the Atlanta Braves, the “Fangraph Dotcom” is generous in evaluation of Lee Jung-hoo.
San Francisco has struggled on an empty stomach this season. It ranked 28th out of 30 Major League teams with a batting average of 0.235 this season. Its OPS was also 0.701, which hardly led to efficient attacks.
In particular, the center fielder position was the Achilles heel of the San Francisco Giants. Luis Matos played center fielder at 76 games, the most in San Francisco, but he only posted a batting average of 0.250 (57 hits in 228 at-bats) with two homers and 14 RBIs and an OPS of 0.661. Matos only had a on-base percentage of 0.319.
Other players were even more serious. Bryce Johnson had a batting average of 0.163 (7 hits in 43 at-bats), one homer and three RBIs in 30 games, and Wade Mechler played 20 games, posting a below-expectations batting average of 0.232 (13 hits in 56 at-bats) and an OPS of 0.578. As defense also fell short of the Major League average, it failed to assist pitchers.
If Lee Jung-hoo shows a batting average of 0.280 and an OPS of 0.750 or higher every season during the contract period, it can be a successful contract for San Francisco.
“Fangraph Dotcom” predicted that Lee Jung-hoo’s victory contribution (WAR) compared to replacement players will fall to 2.5 in 2024, 2.6 in 2025-2026, 2.3 in 2027-2028 and 2.2 in 2029.
Although the San Francisco club has yet to officially announce the recruitment of Lee Jung-hoo, local media in the U.S. have already classified Lee Jung-hoo as a San Francisco player. The “MLB Network” predicted that Lee Jung-hoo will be the first hitter and center fielder in the 2024 season, and that he will form a table setter with Ramonte Wade Jr. and Wilmer Flores.
If Lee Jung-hoo signs the seal with San Francisco at 113 million U.S. dollars, he will break the record for posting money as an Asian fielder. The previous record was Masataka Yoshida of Japan, who signed a five-year contract worth 90 million dollars with the Boston Red Sox last year.
Masataka Yoshida is a right-handed, left-handed outfielder like Lee Jung-hoo. However, Lee is five years younger than Yoshida, who was born in 1998 and was born in 1993. Lee’s outfield defense is also evaluated as superior to Yoshida, who can only play left field.