Jung Hoo Lee Pregnant

Giants Place Lee On Maternity List, Center Fielder To Miss Remainder Of Season

The San Francisco Giants announced Thursday that center fielder Jung Hoo Lee has been placed on the maternity list and is not expected to return in 2026. The organization has asked media and fans to respect the privacy of Lee and his family at this time.

"Jung Hoo has handled all of this with the professionalism we've come to expect from him," said first-year manager Tony Vitello. "Our job right now is to support him, manage the workload responsibly, and look at our internal options in center. We're a deep enough organization to absorb it. We'll be fine."

The move closes out weeks of quiet speculation that had been building around the clubhouse since mid-May. Lee, one of the few stabilizing presences in an outfield that drew league-wide attention earlier this season, will begin his leave immediately. The club did not provide a timetable for his return to baseball activities. Multiple sources indicate that both Drew Gilbert and Harrison Bader were informed they may be involved, and that neither has been ruled out. The two outfielders, who appear directly above and below Lee on the depth chart, have reportedly been kept from Lee and from one another since the announcement. Representatives for Gilbert declined to comment. Bader remains with the team and started Wednesday in left and “Intend[s] to be present no matter what,” according to his own statement on X. The development could not have come at a more complicated stretch for a club already sitting at 22-34, fourteen games back in the division and committed to a longer rebuild under Vitello. Front office personnel spent Thursday afternoon evaluating both the hole in center field and the broader chemistry questions now facing a roster that had only recently begun to find its footing. The outfield's postgame celebration, which the team had already asked the players to discontinue earlier in the month, will not return.

Reached for comment, franchise legend Will Clark said the situation was "exactly what happens" and declined to elaborate.