SAN FRANCISCO -- Less than a week after losing left fielder Heliot Ramos to a right quad strain, the Giants are down another corner outfielder.
Right fielder Jung Hoo Lee landed on the 10-day injured list with a mid-back strain before Friday night’s series opener against the White Sox at Oracle Park, prompting the Giants to select former top outfield prospect Victor Bericoto from Triple-A Sacramento in a corresponding move.
Manager Tony Vitello said Lee felt a “pinch” in his back during pregame work earlier this week and then felt the same sensation during his second at-bat of Monday night’s series opener against the D-backs. He ended up exiting the game in the fourth inning and missed the next two contests of the Arizona series with back spasms.
Lee showed improvement during Thursday’s off-day, but the club preferred to give him more time to heal rather than run the risk of a more serious injury. His IL move is retroactive to Tuesday, meaning he’ll be eligible to return on May 29 at the earliest.
“I think he feels immensely better than he did originally,” Vitello said. “But he still feels some of that grab. … I think like a lot of our guys, part of it is guarding himself from himself. He’s going to want to be out there no matter what, but it’s never any fun when you do the old two steps forward, one step back with an injury like that.”
Lee, 27, is batting .268 with a .696 OPS and three home runs over 48 games. Bericoto wasn’t in the starting lineup on Friday -- Casey Schmitt and Drew Gilbert started in left and right field, respectively -- but he could get looks in the corner outfield while Lee and Ramos are out, as well.
A right-handed hitter, Bericoto hit .299 with an .804 OPS, six home runs and 30 RBIs over 43 games for Sacramento before earning his first MLB callup on Friday. The 24-year-old Venezuelan put himself on the radar during Spring Training, when he batted .419 with a 1.120 OPS and three home runs over 21 Cactus League games en route to earning the 2026 Barney Nugent Award as the top performer in his first big league camp with the Giants.
“I just like the way he goes about his business,” Vitello said. “He’s ultra low-maintenance. He’s a good listener. But the biggest thing for him is he’s a hitter. He’s just very hitter-ish. It’s a very vague phrase, but it’s one used in scouting or just you guys watching the game. He’s been like that his whole life. He’s kind of picked up where he left off from Spring Training and done very well in Sac. Happy to see him.”
Ramos has been on the IL since Saturday and will be shut down from baseball activity for the next week after receiving a platelet-rich plasma injection in his strained right quad on Tuesday. He is likely looking at a longer absence than Lee, as the Giants expect him to miss multiple weeks with the issue.
“I think it’ll help speed things up, but it also is going to mean some inactivity for a few more days,” Vitello said. “That’s kind of the most black-and-white answer on that.”
Worth noting
Third-base coach Hector Borg is expected to be away from the team this weekend after returning to the Dominican Republic to be with his family following the death of his grandmother. Senior advisor to baseball operations Ron Wotus will coach third base for the Giants during their series against the White Sox.