Easily the most surprising team over the first month of the 2025 MLB regular season has been the San Francisco Giants.
They are in a tie atop the National League West with the Los Angeles Dodgers, both owning records of 19-10. Only the New York Mets, who are 20-9, have more wins than the divisional rivals.
It has been encouraging to see the Giants continuing to win games despite some of their positional players coming back down to Earth from incredibly hot starts out of the gate.
Offensive output is going to be what determines if San Francisco can hang in the strong NL West, which also features the San Diego Padres and Arizona Diamondbacks, two more teams over the .500 mark.
One of the players who looks poised to carry his hot start through the season is center fielder Jung Hoo Lee.
He has been named as a player to watch by David Schoenfield of ESPN, who could be an All-Star this year.
“His first season with the Giants in 2024 was cut short after 37 games by a shoulder injury, but so far in 2025, Lee is showing the all-around skills that made him the best player in Korea,” he wrote.
Signed to a six-year, $113 million deal ahead of the 2024 campaign, there was a lot of excitement surrounding the dynamic center fielder upon his arrival.
He had won the Gold Glove Award in five straight seasons from 2018-2022, was the MVP of the KBO in 2022 and was the batting champion in 2021 and 2022.
Only 25 years old when he signed with San Francisco, the team was hoping that he would carry over the excellent production he had in Korea and potentially take things to another level, given the fact he had yet to reach his prime.
While his rookie campaign didn’t provide much optimism, any worries have been put to rest now that he is healthy and adjusting to the MLB.
Lee has been excellent in every fashion of the game through the first month.
He has a .324/.383/.546 slash line with three home runs, an NL-leading 11 doubles and two triples. His 16 RBI are tied for second on the team with third baseman Matt Chapman, behind only Wilmer Flores, who has an MLB-high 28.
Defensively, he has already produced +2 runs of fielding run value and +1 statcast outs above average.
Making an impact with the glove and at the plate, Lee has put himself in a position to be named to the NL All-Star Team this year in the early going.
Competition will be fierce, as he is going up against another breakout star, Pete Crow-Armstrong of the Chicago Cubs, for the starting spot in the NL.
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