When the San Francisco Giants signed Jung Hoo Lee on December 14, 2023, they made a major commitment.

The six-year, $113 million deal made Lee the highest-paid Korean-born position player in Major League Baseball history and reflected how strongly the organization believed in his long-term value.

That belief was immediately tested.

On May 12, 2024, Lee crashed into the center-field wall in a play that instantly looked serious. The collision resulted in a dislocated left shoulder, and further evaluation revealed a torn labrum that ended his rookie season.

What followed was six months of rehabilitation and a lost year.

Now, Lee is beginning to show why San Francisco invested so heavily.

Through his first 58 games of the 2026 season, the 27-year-old owns a .323/.357/.445 slash line with an .803 OPS.

Those numbers are already strong.

His recent stretch has been even more impressive.

Over his last seven games, Lee has hit .462 with a .481 On-base Percentage (OBP) and a .538 Slugging Percentage (SLG), collecting 12 hits in 26 at-bats, three RBIs, and six runs scored.

Expand the sample and the production still stands out.

Across his last 15 games, he is hitting .561 with a .707 Slugging Percentage (SLG).

Across his last 30 games, he owns a .410 batting average.

This is not simply a hot streak.

It represents a dramatic shift from how the season began.

After March 30, Lee’s batting average had dropped to .077 as opposing pitchers found ways to disrupt his rhythm and he struggled to establish consistency.

Since then, he has steadily adjusted.

The timing could not be more important.

San Francisco is 27-39, sitting fourth in the National League West and trailing the Los Angeles Dodgers by 15 games.

Only the Colorado Rockies sit behind them in the division.

Lee’s resurgence has happened while the offense itself has generally performed well.

The Giants lead Major League Baseball in hits and doubles and rank third in team batting average at .256.

Run creation has not been the primary issue.

Pitching has.

San Francisco ranks 22nd in ERA at 4.46 and 25th in WHIP at 1.41, making it difficult to consistently turn offensive production into wins.

That reality puts additional importance on players like Lee.

Defensively, the Giants have also managed his workload differently.

Lee has appeared in center field only 10 times while spending 56 games in right field.

That distribution may reflect an effort to reduce exposure to another dangerous collision while keeping his bat in the lineup.

The standings remain difficult.

But if the Giants are building toward the future while trying to remain competitive, Lee looks increasingly like one of the players they should be building around.

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