Jung Hoo Lee
Baseball · Korea
Giants outfielder and former KBO batting champion — Korea’s clearest everyday MLB export of his generation.
Updated Jul 23, 2026
- Team
- San Francisco Giants
- Active since
- 2017 (KBO); 2024 (MLB)
- Has played for
- Kiwoom Heroes (KBO)
Key stats
- KBO career: .340 AVG, 65 HR, 515 RBI; batting titles in 2021–22; 2022 KBO MVP
- Five Golden Gloves (2018–2022); youngest/fastest to 1,000 KBO hits (age 23)
- MLB (Giants, through mid-2026): .277 AVG / .326 OBP / .402 SLG, 15 HR, 18 SB in 282 games
- 2025: .266/.327/.407 with 8 HR, 55 RBI, 12 triples (tied Asian single-season triples mark with Ichiro)
- 2026 form sample: .299 average through midseason everyday OF work
- Seven-year Giants deal ~$113M (plus posting fee); opt-out after 2027
Jung Hoo Lee came through Korean baseball as a contact-first outfielder with Kiwoom Heroes, winning batting titles and becoming one of the KBO’s most marketable everyday players before San Francisco won his posting rights.
The Giants signed him to a long-term deal that made him one of the highest-paid Korean position players in MLB history. Early seasons mixed highlight defense and line-drive offense with the usual adjustment to big-league velocity and a long season.
By 2026 he was producing as a regular in San Francisco’s outfield while trade-deadline chatter treated his remaining contract and 2027 opt-out as a real asset on a struggling club — proof that Korean hitters, not only pitchers, now move markets.
Lee’s career is the test case for whether KBO bats can stick as everyday MLB players the way Japanese hitters sometimes have. If he holds a .300-adjacent profile in center field, Korea’s posting pipeline looks broader than ace arms. If not, clubs will keep paying for pitching first.
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