South Korea’s Jung-hoo Lee Hopes to Transition to MLB After 2023
After Japan’s Kodai Senga and Masataka Yoshida signed as international free agents earlier this off-season, it appears another decorated star from overseas is aiming to follow a similar path next winter.
According to Yoo Jee-ho of the Yonhap News Agency, South Korea’s Jung-hoo Lee – the reigning Korea Baseball Organization MVP winner – has informed the Kiwoom Heroes that he hopes to join Major League Baseball through its posting system following the 2023 season.
The 24-year-old reportedly announced his decision to team officials while visiting their office at the Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul on Monday. And by doing so, he confirmed what most experts had been expecting over the last few years.
The Heroes aren’t strangers to MLB’s posting system, as they’ve previously sent three players to North America, including Kang Jung-ho, Park Byung-ho and most recently, Ha-Seong Kim. So they likely won’t be against making Lee available next off-season.
Lee’s father, KBO legend Jong-beom Lee, was a superstar during his career, and it seems the baseball genes run strong in the family. The second-generation star broke out in 2017, winning the Rookie of the Year Award after slashing .324/.395/.417.
Lee is considered one of the best pure hitters in the KBO, garnering plenty of attention from major-league scouts in recent years. It also helps that the left-handed outfielder is coming off a sensational 2022 performance.
Though offence was down across the sport, the 6-foot-1 lefty still posted career-bests in home runs (23), RBIs (113), slugging percentage (.575), isolated power (.226) and wRC+ (175) across 142 games. He led the league in hits (193), RBIs, batting average (.349), on-base percentage (.421) and SLG.
The youngster thrives at putting balls in play, evidenced by his .339 BABIP from a season ago. And while over half of his batted balls were grounders, his ability to distribute them to all three fields – 40.3 percent pull, 38.5 percent centre, 21.2 percent opposite – allowed him to remain effective.
Lee’s power, however, was one aspect that differed this past season. Prior to the 2022 campaign, most of his slugging resulted in high amounts of doubles, registering 40 or more per season from 2020-21. But with his strength improving, so has his ability to blast fly balls over the outfield wall.
And there’s hope that he’ll continue progressing in that department while entering his prime years.
Lee also features incredible plate discipline, drawing more walks than strikeouts in four consecutive seasons since 2019. Last season, he earned a 10.5 percent walk rate compared to his 5.1 percent strikeout rate.
The talented lefty’s impressive contact and pitch recognition skills make him a dangerous on-base threat, resulting in a career-best .443 wOBA in 2022. And he was just as effective the season before, producing a .440 wOBA over 123 contests.
Defensively, Lee is a five-time KBO Gold Glove Award winner and can play all three outfield positions, but he’s spent the last two seasons in centre, logging 950 innings or more each year.
Lee has totalled 3,790 career innings in centre field, making numerous highlight-reel web gems. So that’s likely where he’d be positioned in the majors.
But he’s been just as effective – if not better – in right field, where he’s played 1,752 career innings. And with a few scouts concerned about the trajectory of his routes to fly balls, a corner outfield role could better suit him long-term.
Lee is entering his seventh professional season, meaning he’ll become eligible for MLB’s posting system if he plays a full season. Once posted, a 30-day negotiating window will open for all 30 franchises.
Whoever signs him will be subject to paying a posting fee to Kiwoom in addition to the left-hander’s contract. As part of the deal between MLB and the KBO, if the value of his contract is $25 million or less, the fee will be 20 percent. If the contract is worth between $25,000,001 and $50 million, the fee will be 20 percent of the first $25 million plus 17.5 percent of any amount remaining.
For those hoping to receive an early glimpse of Lee’s abilities, the highly-skilled outfield will represent his country in next spring’s World Baseball Classic.
-Thomas Hall
Twitter: @ThomasHall85
Photo: Trainholic. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.