SF Giants have a glaringly obvious lineup change to make after Jung Hoo Lee's hot streak

The SF Giants are on a bit of a roll now after winning three series in a row. Don’t start clearing your calendar for October just yet, but the panic meter is certainly down from where it was just a few weeks ago. 

Part of why they’ve been playing better as of late has to do with Jung Hoo Lee’s hot streak at the plate. With Lee on a roll, it seems manager Tony Vitello may have no other choice than to use Lee as his leadoff hitter while he’s on fire.

Jung Hoo Lee has to be Giants' leadoff bat after hot streak

Lee hit leadoff on Sunday and recorded four hits in five at-bats. He is now hitting .313/.358/.475 with two home runs and 10 runs driven in on the season after a rough start to the campaign. He's turned it around though. In his last seven games he’s hitting .500/.520/.792.

This is the version of Lee the Giants were hoping for when they signed him to that six-year, $113 million deal ahead of the 2024 season. He was supposed to be an everyday leadoff guy who got a bunch of hits and served as a reliable table-setter for the offense.

We saw this version of Lee last year early on when the team was rolling. He was hitting .319/.375/.526 by the end of April and the team was 19-12 on the season. By the end of June, Lee was hitting .240/.311/.393 and the team was struggling at that point.

One hopes that Lee can avoid that summer swoon he had last season because he really is a joy to watch when he’s on fire at the plate. The Giants need Lee and Luis Arraez to serve as a contact-first counterbalance to the swing-and-miss predominance of the rest of the order.

Lee obviously makes more sense as a leadoff hitter on paper than shortstop Willy Adames who has been batting leadoff for much of the season. Adames has power but he’s been ice-cold as of late with just two hits in his last 33 at-bats. He got a much-needed day off on Sunday. 

Adames makes more sense as a middle-of-the-order bat so moving him to the No. 4 or No. 5 spot while returning Lee to the leadoff spot is what makes the most sense for the team right now.

The Giants need to build off the momentum they've created these last few series. If Lee can sustain how he's looked at the plate recently for the rest of the season and be the .300 hitter the Giants hoped they were getting, that could change everything for San Francisco.

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