Any predictions on Seung-Yeop Lee?

Lee has been hitting fine over the first week of the season, but it wasn't until Sunday that he hit his first home run.

A friend who knows someone who knows someone close to Lotte says that Lee was having trouble adjusting to life in Japan and with his new team. I was told that he'd seclude himself up in his room and play video games or watch Korean DVDs all the time. The press alluded to this state when they printed that Valentine-kantoku convinced Lee's father to come over to watch his son this past weekend.

Nikkan Sports reported that Lee's father was outspoken against his son leaving Korea for either NPB or MLB, as his mother was ill (with a blockage in her brain). But after the game on Sunday where Lee hit a towering 150 meter home run over the right field stands and into the back window of a parked car (the third jyogai home run in Chiba Marine Stadium history), and seeing the warm reception of the fans at Chiba Marine (fans were asking for Lee's father's and wife's autographs from outside their booth - a little too warm a reception in some respects), the father and son have cleared the air between them and Lee got that dredded first home run out of the way.

Valentine-kantoku saw Kintetsu's Bryant hit a ball out of Chiba Marine in 1995, but commented that there was a very strong wind that day. Sunday, on the other hand, was near windless.

And with that first home run out of thet way, Lee came back on Monday night (April 5) with a "hit parde" including a single where he came around to score in the 4th, a solo home run in the 6th, and a lead-off double to right in the 8th. The 3 for 4 showing raised Lee's average to .353 from .300 the day before.

It's still kind of early to say anything about how Lee will finish. But he has shown that he can adjust and has great bat control. For example, most of the teams spotted the high-insider as Lee's weak spot early on. However, it was a high and tight pitch that he ripped out of Chiba Marine on Sunday. The home run on Monday wasn't a fastball, it was one of Iwamoto's curve balls that are hard to read. This versitility is a very good sign.

It's no wonder that MLB teams passed on Lee this past off-season. Some Asian stars over-estimate their ability to the point of delusion. I doubt that NPB will take a chance on KBO stars anymore, given all the failures of past KBO stars in NPB. Sun of Chunichi and Koo of Orix are the only 2 guys who had good KBO careers and did reasonably well in NPB.

I'm not knocking Korean players only - Japanese players have over-estimated their ability also. So Taguchi never lived up to expectations in MLB. Some others, like Tanishige of the Dragons, wanted to go the MLB only to be told by scouts and team personnel that they weren't good enough to play in the big leagues.

Does anyone know exactly what Lee's numbers are to this point?

Please see the Marines' stats page, available by clicking on "Teams" at the top of this page, then "Stats" next to the Chiba Lotte Marines, or from the "Stats" sidebar on the left of most pages on the site.

Thanks for the link. It sure is a good thing no MLB team picked him up. He would've been a major disappointment. I guess it's clear he's not the "Asian home run king." He's the Korean home run king - nothing more, nothing less.

I predict Lee will really struggle. By mid-May he will be hitting in the low .200's and have about 5 home runs. Running out of patient at last, Bobby Valentine will drop Lee to ni-gun to get his confidence back. Korea will be shocked by the news and it will be headlined in the newspapers.

Wild prediction, I know, but hey anything can happen.

You may be right. This should be a good wake-up call for Korean baseball. They now know how far behind they are. Hopefully this will only increase the quality of baseball over there. From what I understand, it is currently improving rapidly. But the current trevails of Lee demonstrate that there is still a lot of room for improvement.