Giants call up Victor Bericoto, place Jung Hoo Lee on injured list
Jung Hoo Lee’s back strain opened the door, and Victor Bericoto walked through it after a .299 start in Sacramento.
Victor Bericoto got the call because the Giants needed a corner-outfield bat now, and Jung Hoo Lee’s mid-back strain created the opening.
San Francisco selected Bericoto from Triple-A Sacramento on Friday, May 22, 2026, before a 9-4 loss to the Chicago White Sox at Oracle Park and placed Lee on the 10-day injured list. The move was backdated to May 19, which made Lee eligible to return as early as May 29, but the Giants decided to protect a player who had already missed two games in Arizona after leaving Monday’s series opener against the Diamondbacks with back spasms.
Manager Tony Vitello said Lee felt a “pinch” in pregame work and again on a swing during that game, then was “immensely better” by Thursday’s off-day but still felt a “grab.” That left San Francisco thin in the outfield, especially on the corners. Heliot Ramos was already on the injured list with a right quad strain and had received a PRP injection that week, which pushed Drew Gilbert into right field and Casey Schmitt into left for the White Sox game while Bericoto waited for his first chance.
Bericoto made it count by simply getting there. The 24-year-old, a right-handed hitter born in Maracay, Venezuela, entered in the eighth inning for his Major League debut as a pinch-hitter against White Sox left-hander Brandon Eisert and struck out swinging on three pitches. It was the first big-league test for a player the Giants signed as an international free agent in 2018, after seven seasons in the minors and a run that had once put him among the organization’s top outfield prospects.
The numbers that got Bericoto to San Francisco made the promotion hard to ignore. In 43 Triple-A games for Sacramento this season, he hit .299/.355/.449 with six home runs and 30 RBIs, production that fit a club looking for a right-handed option to cover the corners while Lee and Ramos were out. Over his minor league career, Bericoto entered the call-up with 78 home runs and 361 RBIs. Sacramento, meanwhile, lost one of its most consistent bats, and the Giants finally turned a productive spring in Triple-A into a major league opportunity.
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