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Giants' Lee Jung-hoo expected to change defensive positions this season

Published: 28 Jan. 2026, 13:39 Updated: 28 Jan. 2026, 14:33

San Francisco Giants' Lee Jung-hoo, right, reacts after striking out as Los Angeles Dodgers catcher Will Smith prepares to throw the ball during the sixth inning of a baseball game in Los Angeles on June 14, 2025. [AP/YONHAP]

Lee Jung-hoo, who played center field for the San Francisco Giants, is expected to change defensive positions this season after the club signed a center fielder known for elite defense.

Major League Baseball media outlets, including MLB.com, reported on Monday that San Francisco agreed to a two-year $20.5 million deal with outfielder Harrison Bader as the team moves to bolster its defense after struggling with one of the majors' weakest outfield units last season.

Bader, a 2021 Gold Glove winner, is regarded as one of the top defensive center fielders in the majors. From 2018 to 2025, his cumulative outs above average, a Statcast metric, totaled 76, leading all major league outfielders over that time period. Outs above average measures how many more or fewer outs a fielder records compared to the expected average in similar situations.

By contrast, the Giants' team outs above average for the outfield in 2025 was minus 18, the worst among the league's 30 clubs. Lee posted minus 5 in center field, and left fielder Heliot Ramos recorded minus 9. Bader posted 7 in 2025.

MLB.com projected that Lee, who had been the starting center fielder, is likely to move to a corner outfield spot in left or right, with Bader taking over in center.

San Francisco Giants outfielder Lee Jung-hoo runs to third base after hitting a triple during the second inning of an MLB game against the Colorado Rockies in San Francisco on Sept. 26, 2025. [AP/YONHAP]

Lee signed a six-year $113 million deal with the Giants ahead of the 2024 season. His first year ended early due to a shoulder injury, but he played his first full season last year and established himself as a key part of the lineup.

Defensively, however, he did not fully win trust. “During the offseason, I focused on outfield defense training,” Lee said at a recent team event.

Bader’s arrival is not necessarily bad news for Lee. The latter has experience playing left and right field from his time in the KBO. In his first major league season in 2024, he suffered a serious shoulder injury while sprinting to the wall to try to make a catch. A move to a corner spot could reduce the risk of injury and allow him to focus more on hitting.

Bader also contributed at the plate in 2025, batting .277 with an on-base plus slugging of .796. He hit a career-high 17 home runs and ranked in the top 15 percent in sprint speed in the majors.

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY BAE YOUNG-EUN [[email protected]]