Seung-min Lee (21) of pro baseball's SSG Landers recorded an RBI in front of his father, who was the opposing team's manager.
Seung-min Lee started in right field as the No. 1 batter in the 2026 Futures League game against the LG Twins at SSG Futures Field in Ganghwa on the 1st and went 1-for-4 with an RBI.
It was Seung-min Lee's return to action two weeks after the Futures League game against Lotte on April 17. Coincidentally, it was a game against LG, led by his father, second-team manager Byung-kyu Lee.
In his first plate appearance in the first inning, Seung-min Lee swung at the first pitch from LG starter Yun-sik Kim and was out on a fly to left field. He returned to game action after two pitches and aggressively swung the bat from the first pitch.
Manager Byung-kyu Lee was known in his playing days for aggressively attacking the first pitch. A bad-ball hitter who won the batting title twice and the most hits title three times, manager Byung-kyu Lee was the type to produce results within three pitches.
In the third inning with one out and a runner on first, Seung-min Lee again attacked the first pitch but was out on a fly to center. Like father, like son.
With the score narrowed to 1-3 in the fifth inning and runners on first and third with one out, Seung-min Lee held back on a first-pitch ball. With a 1-1 count he hit the third pitch for an RBI single to center, cutting the deficit to 2-3. He ostentatiously recorded a run-scoring hit in front of his father, the opposing team's manager. After one out in the seventh, he struck out swinging on the fifth pitch. SSG won 4-3 after Jae-yeon Ahn hit a two-RBI go-ahead single in the eighth.
Seung-min Lee was drafted by SSG in the second round with the 20th overall pick in the 2024 rookie draft. He bats and throws left like his father and wears No. 9, the same number his father wore. At LG, Byung-kyu Lee's No. 9 is retired.
In his first year in 2024, Seung-min Lee played only in the Futures League. In 66 games he batted .285 (137 at-bats, 39 hits) with three home runs, 20 RBIs and 15 runs scored. He also mostly played in the second team last year, hitting .270 in 52 games (111 at-bats, 30 hits) with one home run, 20 RBIs and 16 runs. He made his first-team debut on Oct. 2 last year against the KIA Tigers. In the first team he played two games, going 1-for-5.
He also started this season in the second team. He took a short break for minor injuries in mid-April and returned that day. In 18 games he has a batting average of .120 (49 at-bats, 5 hits) with five RBIs. <
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