San Francisco Giants outfielder Jung Hoo Lee could be back in the lineup as early as this weekend after missing time with lower back tightness. Lee resumed workouts on Tuesday, putting him on track to rejoin the club during its road series against the Colorado Rockies starting Friday.
Giants manager Tony Vitello said before Tuesday’s home game against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Oracle Park that the team hoped Lee would be ready by the weekend, a timetable that would cut short a brief stay on the 10-day injured list. The outfielder was placed on the list Saturday after dealing with back discomfort that surfaced in the bottom of the fourth inning against Arizona on May 19 and forced him to leave the game.
Lee had been in the middle of one of the steadier stretches of his season when the back tightened up. Before exiting that game, he went 1-for-2 and stretched his hitting streak to five games, a small but useful sign of rhythm for a player who had struggled early and saw his batting average dip below.200 before regaining form in late April.
That matters for the Giants because Lee has become a regular presence in the lineup, and his absence was already felt over two games against the Diamondbacks before the club shut him down. If he is activated by Friday, San Francisco will get him back just as it opens a key road series in Colorado, giving the team a chance to restore one of its more reliable bats at a time when the outfielder is hitting.268 with 48 hits in 179 at-bats this season.
The only real uncertainty now is whether the weekend target holds. Lee’s workouts on Tuesday are a good sign, but the Giants still have to decide whether he is ready for game action after a back issue that arrived suddenly, lingered long enough to send him to the injured list, and now appears close to clearing up.
