SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — San Francisco Giants outfielder Jung Hoo Lee will miss the rest of the season and require surgery on his dislocated left shoulder after getting injured crashing into an outfield wall.
The Giants announced Friday that Lee will undergo season-ending surgery in the next couple of weeks.
“First of all I feel bad for him, but obviously for our team he loves playing baseball and he loves playing for the Giants and this was a significant sign for us, so it’s disappointing for everybody, mostly for him,” manager Bob Melvin said. “We’ll find a way to do our thing without him but he was really a key guy for us and he knows that. Nothing you can do about it. You play a certain way and sometimes these things are going to happen. Yeah, this is going to take a little bit to sink in.”
Lee leapt in an attempt to catch a drive from Cincinnati’s Jeimer Candelario on Sunday when he hit the right-center field wall. Lee went on the injured list the following day, had an MRI that revealed the severity of the injury and went to Dr. Neal ElAttrache on Thursday in Los Angeles for a second opinion.
“It’s not how I thought (I’d) end my rookie season this year. But from all my baseball career I’ve had, this could be one of the most disappointing seasons I had,” Lee said. “And for now, I’m just trying to think about it more optimistically. Trying to think about not the past, but the future.”
Lee signed a $113 million, six-year contract after he starred in South Korea, where he had surgery on the same shoulder in 2018. The 25-year-old hit 262 with two homers, eight RBIs and .641 OPS in 37 games.
Giants President of Baseball Operations Farhan Zaidi said the Giants received a couple of medical opinions and said in some cases the surgery can be put off until the end of the season and a player can rehab through the injury considering the recovery is about six months.
“In this case given his age and the fact that he’s injured the shoulder before and just the medical collective consensus medical opinions it made sense to get this taken care of right away and give him as much of a head start preparing for 2025 as possible,” Zaidi said.
He called the loss of Lee “a real bummer” but noted Lee’s absence will create an opportunity for other young players.
“He felt like he really hit the ground running this season and we saw a lot of good things and felt like it was just going to continue to get better,” Zaidi said. “Beyond the excitement he created it seemed like he was becoming kind of more and more important to our team’s success both offensively and defensively with what he did in center field. It is really disappointing. Again, we’re expecting a full recovery and know he’s going to work hard and come back strong in 2025.”
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AP Sports Writer Steve Megargee contributed to this report.
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