By Alex Pavlovic •
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SAN FRANCISCO — Jung Hoo Lee’s first season with the Giants is over.
Lee has a torn labrum in his left shoulder and will have season-ending surgery in the next couple of weeks, the Giants announced Friday. He suffered structural damage after slamming into the center field fence last weekend, and a second opinion on Thursday confirmed that the labrum needs to be surgically repaired.
Lee said this actually is his second shoulder dislocation. He said he was disappointed, but plans to come back strong. Through interpreter Justin Han, Lee said the first month-plus in the big leagues was the “happiest moment of my baseball career.”
Lee signed a six-year, $113 million deal in the offseason, the largest the Giants have ever given to a free-agent position player. They were hopeful he could fix their center field defense, a weakness the last two seasons, and inject some needed athleticism.
Lee was installed as the leadoff hitter and started 37 games before getting hurt, batting .262 with a .641 OPS and two homers. He played solid defense in center field, and the Giants were excited with the fact that Lee didn’t seem to have any adjustment period from the KBO to MLB. His bat-to-ball skills translated, and the staff was hopeful for a big summer and second half.
Without Lee, Luis Matos will get a chance to become the everyday center fielder. The 22-year-old is 4-for-12 since returning from Triple-A, with a homer and five RBI. He was shaky in center field the first two nights of the series against the Los Angeles Dodgers, but the staff asked him to play deeper and he robbed Teoscar Hernandez of a homer on Wednesday.
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