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Giants outfielder Lee Jung-hoo to be lone Korean at start of MLB season

Published: 24 Mar. 2026, 13:57

Korean baseball player Lee Jung-hoo takes batting practice ahead of the World Baseball Classic quarterfinal game against the Dominican Republic at loanDepot Park in Miami, Florida, on March 13. [YONHAP]

When the 2026 MLB season begins this week, there will be only one Korean on an Opening Day roster.

That will be San Francisco Giants outfielder Lee Jung-hoo, who captained Korea to the quarterfinals at the World Baseball Classic (WBC) earlier this month and returned to put up big numbers for his club in spring training.

Lee is entering his third season with the Giants and will slide over from center field to right field on defense, with former Gold Glove winner Harrison Bader set to take over in center. With some of the defensive burden off his shoulders, Lee will be counted on for more production at the plate.

As a sophomore in 2025, Lee led the Giants with a .266 batting average, 31 doubles and 12 triples, and finished third among the regulars with an on-base plus slugging (OPS) of .734.

While spring training numbers are often taken with a grain of salt, Lee has been one of the Giants' best hitters this year, having batted .455 (10-for-22) with a 1.227 OPS. He has not struck out in those 22 at-bats through Sunday's action.

The Giants will open their season against the New York Yankees at home, Oracle Park, at 5:05 p.m. Wednesday.

The rest of MLB will begin their campaign either Thursday or Friday, but no other Korean player will be in action.

Korean baseball players Kim Hye-seong, left and Lee Jung-hoo, right, celebrate after securing a spot in the quarterfinals with a win over Australia in the final Group C game of the World Baseball Classic at Tokyo Dome in Tokyo on March 9. [YONHAP]

Atlanta Braves shortstop Kim Ha-seong suffered a torn tendon in his right middle finger after slipping on a sheet of ice in Korea in January. He was initially expected to be out for about five months.

Alex Anthopoulos, Braves president of baseball operations, said at the start of spring training that he hoped Kim would be ready in the early part of May. Kim himself hasn't confirmed his timeline, only telling reporters last week he was "trying to stay in a positive mindset every day."

This will be Kim's sixth MLB season and his second with the Braves after he appeared in 24 games for them last year. The 2023 Gold Glove winner was limited to only 48 games overall last year, the other 24 with the Tampa Bay Rays, due to assorted injuries.

San Diego Padres infielder Song Sung-mun will also start the season on the injured list, but could be back by mid-April for his MLB debut. Song, who signed with the Padres in December, first suffered a right oblique injury in January, which kept him out of the WBC, and it flared up earlier this month.

Song returned to spring action Monday, but the Padres plan to give the Korean more game action in Triple-A the rest of this month before bringing him up to MLB in April. He batted .235 (4-for-17) with a home run in eight spring training games.

Song mostly played third base in the KBO, with occasional appearances at second base. The Padres like his defense so much that they even tried him at shortstop for one spring training game and had designs of playing him in the outfield, too.

Three other Korean players will start their seasons in the minor leagues.

Kim Hye-seong of the Los Angeles Dodgers was optioned to Triple-A on Sunday, despite batting .407/.448/.519 with a home run, six RBIs and five steals in nine spring training games. The Dodgers were apparently not thrilled with Kim's plate discipline.

Kim had eight strikeouts against one walk in 27 at-bats. Manager Dave Roberts said he wanted Kim to get more at-bats in the minors after Kim had missed a big chunk of spring training due to his WBC commitments.

Reliever Go Woo-suk signed a minor league deal with the Detroit Tigers late last year and will be with their Triple-A affiliate, the Toledo Mud Hens, at the onset of 2026. He will look to build on his strong WBC, where he gave up one unearned run in 3 2/3 innings across three outings.

Bae Ji-hwan was claimed off waivers by the New York Mets last November, after appearing in only 13 games for the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2025. The utility player batted .294 (5-for-17) in 11 spring training games before the Mets reassigned him to their minor league camp on March 15.

Yonhap