SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. – The first wave of San Francisco Giants threw to hitters on a cloudy Friday afternoon at Scottsdale Stadium, and Jung Hoo Lee was one of the batch of position players – who arrived well before the full squad is set to report on Saturday – to stand in.

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He made his bat heard. Off Hayden Birdsong, Lee smacked a fastball for a hard single the other way.

“Jung Hoo, he can just hit,” Birdsong said.

So starts a key spring for Lee, who is coming off an uneven 2025, his second in the bigs. He anticipated an adjustment from the Korean Baseball Organization, but the adjustment went far beyond facing MLB pitching. The time difference, language barriers and 162-game grind took its toll on Lee as he struggled both in the outfield and, after a hot start, at the plate. He lost weight and, over the offseason, his job as the Giants’ starting center fielder.

Free agent Gold Glover Harrison Bader will take over that job in 2026 and Lee will move to right field. Though Lee was initially signed to be the Giants’ starting center fielder, he has no problem with the shift. Top exec Buster Posey spoke to him about it beforehand.

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“It was a smooth conversation,” Lee said with team translator Justin Han interpreting. “I know that bringing in Bader is going to make the outfield way better. It wasn’t hard to make a decision saying that I’ll move over to right field. … I played that position back in the KBO. Going back to the past season, if I played better in center field, the organization would’ve kept me in center field.”

Lee played 275 games in right field for the Kiwoom Heroes, but he gained fame for his wind-breaking style in center field for which he won five straight Gold Gloves in the KBO.

Lee’s move to right field and the addition of Bader should improve an outfield that performed poorly as a group in 2025. Entering his third season in San Francisco, Lee knows the move won’t be easy as the 27-year-old will have to learn how to play balls hit off that corner’s brick wall. But he’s close with former Giant Mike Yastrzemski, who navigated that wall better than most who have tried.

“I’ll for sure give Yaz a call in a couple weeks and ask him about right field,” Lee said. “You guys know better than anybody else that the right field in Oracle Park has so many dynamics and so much going on.”

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As for other adjustments, it will take time to learn the ups and downs of playing 162. The cross-country travel also took its toll, and so did the time difference between Korea and California.

“I have to eat a lot,” Lee said. “I like to sleep in a lot before a night game, but maybe I should wake up a little bit early, grab breakfast, then go back to sleep. … Eating is also part of the time difference, and with the 162 games I had last season, I got to learn a lot of the know-hows, and I hope I can use that a lot this season.”

Does Lee’s position switch mean the Jung Hoo Crew – the Giants’ ticket program for Lee fans in center field – will move with him?

“Maybe put them on a boat on the water?” Lee joked.

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Live BP: Logan Webb and Birdsong have different objectives this spring, but they were the first Giants to throw live batting practice this spring.

Webb is on his routine ramp-up for the season despite plans to pitch for Team USA in the World Baseball Classic.

Webb, Heliot Ramos, Luis Arráez and Bader are among the eight Giants ticketed to play in the tournament. Most players participating will join their country’s teams on March 1. Webb threw 12 bullpens in the weeks leading up to spring training and threw to five hitters on Friday. He doesn’t anticipate altering his ramp-up despite his WBC duties.

“I don’t think I have to change anything,” Webb said. “I get adrenaline, I had adrenaline today. … Spring is fun, because it’s like you’re excited to get here, throw two games, and then you’re like, ‘I wanna get out of here.’ I actually get to do that this year.”

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Birdsong said he got too into his own head last year, when he was demoted to Triple-A shortly after the second half began. He’s hoping to regain fluidity in his delivery and think less this year. He had his most success last season out of the bullpen, and that could be an option for him this year.

Giants sign pitcher: The Giants signed Rowan Wick to a one-year contract with a club option for 2027. He will miss the entire 2026 season rehabbing from Tommy John surgery. He last pitched in MLB in 2022 out of the Chicago Cubs bullpen, and he pitched last year for Japan’s Yokohama Bay Stars, posting a 1.13 ERA over 45 appearances.

This article originally published at Jung Hoo Lee embraces move to right field for Giants, will Jung Hoo Crew move with him?.