Attention is being paid to how the San Francisco Giants of the American Professional Baseball (MLB), where Lee Jeong-hoo started, will spend the remainder of the off-season.On the 13th (Korean time), San Francisco signed right-handed fastball pitcher Jordan Hicks (27) for a four-year contract worth $44 million (about 57.9 billion won).What is unusual is that bullpen resource Hicks decided to play as a starting pitcher in San Francisco.ESPN, citing sources, said, “San Francisco plans to turn Hicks into a full-time starting pitcher.” Hicks has experience starting 35 games in the minor league, but since the 2018 season in the major league, he has mostly been on the mound only as a bullpen player.

His total big league selection is only 8 games in the 2022 season, and at that time, he allowed 16 runs in 26 1/3 innings and suffered 4 losses (no wins).Hicks’ first-team career records are 212 games over 5 seasons, 11 wins, 21 losses, 32 saves, and an ERA of 3.85. In the end, San Francisco’s remaining off-season actions will depend on how reliable Hicks is viewed as a starting resource.‘MLB Trade Rumors’, which specializes in MLB market news, placed emphasis on additional reinforcement of the starting lineup.The media analyzed, “Even if Hicks maintains good condition, it is difficult to imagine him joining the starting rotation and starting more than 30 games. Considering the uncertainty, it is reasonable to believe that San Francisco will strengthen the starting rotation.” .At the same time, he mentioned Ryu Hyun-jin, Blake Snell, Jordan Montgomery, Mike Clevinger, and Michael Lorenzen, who are available on the free agent (FA) market.

MLB.com suggested the possibility that San Francisco would turn to recruiting fielders.MLB.com said, “Now that they have recruited Hicks, there is a possibility that they will focus on other recruitment targets (rather than pitchers),” citing third baseman Matt Chapman as an example.This is because reinforcing slugging power is an urgent task for San Francisco, whose team slugging percentage in the 2023 season ranked only 27th in the league.Chapman had a batting average of 0.240, a slugging percentage of 0.424, 17 home runs, and 54 RBI in 140 games last year.However, MLB.com also pointed out the mound situation, saying, “San Francisco has not fully resolved the starting rotation problem,” and “Alix Cobb, who underwent hip surgery, is expected to return in the first half, and Robbie Ray, who underwent elbow ligament fusion surgery, is expected to 슬롯 return only in the second half.” .