“Lee Jung-hoo met Dr. Neal Elatrache in Los Angeles and was recommended for shoulder surgery,” the San Francisco Giants said on the 18th (Korea Standard Time). “Lee Jung-hoo will have surgery on his left shoulder joint and net suture within a few weeks. He will not be on the ground in 2024.”
Lee Jung-hoo jumped to catch Jaymer Candelario’s ball in the top of the first inning of a home game against the Cincinnati Reds at Oracle Park in San Francisco, California, on the 13th and hit the fence strongly.
Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) examination revealed structural damage to Lee Jung-hoo’s left shoulder, and Lee Jung-hoo moved to Los Angeles on the 17th to meet Dr. Elatrache.
Dr. Elatrache is a world-renowned surgery doctor in sports. He is famous to Korean baseball fans for having surgery on Ryu Hyun-jin’s shoulder and elbow. Many sports stars in the MLB and around the world entrust Dr. Elatrache to the surgery. Last year, MLB superstar Shohei Ohtani (Los Angeles Dodgers) received elbow surgery from Dr. Elatrache.
It is the second time that Lee is undergoing shoulder surgery. Lee was diagnosed with a ruptured hip joint after injuring his left shoulder while sliding in a match against the Doosan Bears in Jamsil on June 19, 2018, when he played for the Nexen Heroes (currently Kiwoom) in the KBO League.
Although Lee returned to the ground after a month by pulling the rehabilitation clock, he injured his left shoulder again while throwing himself to catch the ball while playing defense in the bottom of the ninth inning of Game 2 of the semi-playoff against the Hanwha Eagles in Daejeon on Oct. 20 of that year. Lee eventually underwent surgery to suture the anterior and inferior joints of his left shoulder in November.
Even after undergoing surgery, Lee Jung-hoo accelerated his rehabilitation and completed his rehabilitation in four months, faster than expected before the surgery, and played the opening game of the 2019 regular season normally. Lee Jung-hoo, who had a career batting average of 0.340 while playing in the KBO League until 2023, entered the big league with a six-year, $113 million contract with San Francisco ahead of this season.
Lee posted a batting average of 0.262 (38 hits in 145 at-bats), two homers, eight RBIs, two steals, and an OPS of 0.641 in 37 MLB games this year. His batting speed was 89.1 miles per hour (143.3 kilometers), slightly higher than the MLB average of 88.5 miles (142.4 kilometers).먹튀검증