2025 Fantasy Baseball: Jung Hoo Lee Profile, Preview, Predictions
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After a bust rookie season due to an injury, Jung Hoo Lee is an unknown commondity in the fantasy market. Is he a two category player (batting average and runs)? Or will his power shine through in 2025?
Jung Hoo Lee was the Korean league's MVP and is the son of one of the greatest Korean baseball players ever.
— Front Office Sports (@FOS) April 1, 2024
He signed with the San Francisco Giants, and this weekend hit his first MLB home run—with his dad in attendance.
The Korean broadcast call:pic.twitter.com/87t2OmmP4e
OF – Jung Hoo Lee, SF (ADP – 230.9)
Over seven seasons in Korea, Lee hit .340 with 581 runs, 65 home runs, 515 RBIs, and 69 stolen bases over 3,746 at-bats. His best two years came in 2020 (.333/85/15/101/12 over 544 at-bats) and 2022 (.349/85/23/113/5 over 553 at-bats). He had more walks (383 – 9.7%) than strikeouts (304 – 7.7%). His average hit rate (1.444) in Korea suggests 15 home runs would be a lot to ask for early in his major league career. In 2023, Lee missed time due to a broken left ankle that required surgery.
His bat was a significant disappointment over his first 37 games with San Francisco. He had weakness in runs (15), home runs (2), RBIs (8), and stolen bases (2) for his playing time (145 at-bats) while also having a much lower contact batting average (.288) than his time in Korea (.372). Lee delivered an inspiring average hit rate (1.263) and RBI rate (8). His season ended in mid-May with a left shoulder injury (torn labrum) that required surgery.
He was challenging to strikeout (8.2%) with a subpar walk rate (6.3). His exit velocity (89.1 mph) aligned with his previous resume. Lee hit fewer groundballs (47.0% - 59.2% in 2023), leading to a career-best fly-ball rate (34.3) but no pulse in his HR/FB rate (4.3).
Fantasy Outlook: Lee has an ADP of 231 in the high-stakes market in late January, which is lower than his rookie campaign (248). The Giants saw enough in his game to pay him $113 million for six seasons last year. I won’t be drafting Lee in any league again this year. At best, he is a two-category player (batting average and runs) with no fantasy excitement at this point of his career.
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With 20+ years of experience in the high-stakes fantasy market, I aim to research and compete at the highest level in baseball and football each season. I've contributed as a writer/analyst for Sports Draft Daily, ScoutPro, Scout Fantasy, Fulltime Fantasy, FFToolbox, and Sports Illustrated Fantasy. I'm honored to be in the National Fantasy Baseball Championship Hall of Fame. My drafting philosophy is risk-averse yet open to betting on potential game-changers. I approach player selection with a neutral perspective, acknowledging that fantasy sports are inherently unpredictable due to injuries, performance dips, and managerial decisions. My work focuses on these main areas: - Season-long fantasy baseball and football - BestBall Baseball and Football Events - Daily Fantasy Sports (DFS): DraftKings, FanDuel, and Underdog - Long Shot Player Prop Parlays for NFL I participate in various leagues and contests, including NFBC, NFFC, RTSports, FFPC, DraftKings, Underdog Fantasy, FanDuel, and FFWC, with the goal of leveraging my extensive experience and research for success in each game format. A fantasy follower can expect in-depth profiles of NFL and MLB players, along with season-long and weekly projections for each fantasy football season. In addition, I have many strategy articles to help develop fantasy players' learning curves.
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