Rehabilitation is expected to take about six months, so Lee Jung-hoo will end his Major League Baseball debut season as it is.
“Lee Jeong-hoo was re-examined in Los Angeles, California by Dr. Neal Elatrache and was recommended for surgery,” the San Francisco Giants said on Wednesday (Korea time). “He will undergo a suture operation on his shoulder joint in the coming weeks. He will no longer be able to play in the 2024 season.”
Farhan Zaidi, president of baseball operations, said, “It is expected that it will take about six months for Lee to recover. It is difficult to come back this season, but he said he could make a full recovery.”
Lee Jung-hoo was injured during defense in the top of the first inning at a home game against the Cincinnati Reds at Oracle Park in San Francisco, California on the 13th. He jumped to catch a big hit by opponent batter Jaimer Candelario and hit the fence with his left arm.
Lee Jung-hoo, whose magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) test revealed structural damage to his left shoulder, traveled to Los Angeles to meet with Dr. Elatrache for comment.
Dr. Elatrache is an expert in this field widely known in the world sports world. Ryu Hyun-jin (currently Hanwha Eagles) is well known to Korean baseball fans as a doctor who underwent shoulder surgery in 2015 and ligament surgery in his left elbow in 2022.
Superstar Shohei Ohtani, who plays for the MLB Los Angeles Dodgers, also had elbow surgery last year by Dr. Elatrache.
This is the second time that Lee Jung-hoo has shoulder surgery. After the 2018 season, when he made his KBO league debut, he underwent surgery on his left shoulder joint and net suture.
Lee Jung-hoo, who injured his left shoulder while sliding against the Doosan Bears on June 19, 2018, was diagnosed with a left shoulder joint and net tear.
Lee Jung-hoo, who recovered from his injury and returned after about a month, injured his left shoulder again while making a diving catch in the ninth inning in the second round of the semi-playoff against Hanwha on Oct. 20 of that year.
Eventually, in November of that year, Lee Jung-hoo undergoes surgery for the anterior and inferior joints of his left shoulder.
At that time, six months were expected to be rehabilitated, but Lee Jung-hoo completed his rehabilitation in four months and joined the 2019 regular season normally.
Lee Jung-hoo, who played as the best hitter in the KBO League until 2023, recorded a batting average of 0.340 in 884 games, 65 homers, 515 RBIs, 581 runs, and 69 steals in seven seasons, entered the big league in December last year with a six-year contract period of $113 million (about 176.2 billion won).
Lee Jung-hoo played in 37 games as San Francisco’s main center fielder and built-in first hitter this season, recording a batting average of 0.262 (38 hits in 145 times at bat), two homers, eight RBIs and two steals, and an OPS (on-base plus slugging percentage) of 0.641.
Lee Jung-hoo, who was struggling at the beginning of the season, seemed to be gradually adapting, but he was blocked by injury.스포츠토토