SURPRISE, Ariz. >> Jung Hoo Lee doesn’t quite have his swagger back. Not all of it.

The Giants’ Cactus League opener against the Texas Rangers on Saturday represented Lee’s first game since May 12, 2024, the day that Lee barreled into the wall at Oracle Park and suffered a season-ending shoulder injury. In the grand scheme of the season, the Giants’ 6-1 win over the Rangers counts for nothing. For Lee, his abbreviated afternoon provided him with a step in the right direction.

“I can’t say at the moment that I’m 100 percent confident playing offense and defense right now,” Lee said through team interpreter Justin Han. “I’m putting a lot of effort … into what I’m doing right now on the field, trying to help the team out. Hopefully, I get to the field when I’m 100% confident.”

Afternoons over the next week such as this one will certainly help in the confidence department. Batting in the three-hole, Lee impressed on both sides of the ball in his first game in nearly 300 days. At the plate, Lee roped a 105.1-mph single on the very first pitch he saw, sharing with reporters that he planned on swinging at the first pitch he saw today.

“I wanted to check on my swing today and see if my hands were on time,” Lee said. “Luckily, I did get the hit. It was all about if I was late, if I was fast, if I was going in the right direction, if my mechanics were okay.”

In the field, Lee tracked down Evan Carter’s deep drive to left-center field just shy of the warning track. As Lee ran at full speed towards the wall, manager Bob Melvin admitted that he was reminded of the injury that ended Lee’s rookie year nine months prior.

“It was the same spot,” Melvin said. “I even said something to (Ryan Christenson). I almost was like, ‘Slow down, slow down.’ I certainly didn’t want to see him come up against the wall. He doesn’t have that in him. He was going to go get it. It was a nice play that he made look easy.”

Lee’s second plate appearance of the afternoon won’t make any of Lee’s personal highlight tapes. On a 3-2 count, the Rangers’ Jack Leiter threw Lee a payoff slider down in the dirt. Lee not only swung at the offering but awkwardly contorted his body and lost his helmet in the process. All in all, Lee finished his first game 1 for 3.

“It’s tough for anybody who’s been out as long as he has to see every pitch really well,” Melvin said. “First pitch, he gets a base hit. Then, maybe expanded a little bit, but you see a lot of that in spring training. Makes a really good play on the first ball hit out to left-center field. You look up and your eyes tell you he’s already at full sprint. I think it was a successful day for him.”

Huff opens eyes >> Sam Huff not only hit the Giants’ first home run of Cactus League play — a 422-foot no-doubter to center field — but he became the team’s first player to challenge and win a call with the automatic ball-strike (ABS) system that will be in effect this spring.

Making matters sweeter, the 27-year-old catcher did it against the only other team he’s ever known. Before entering the battle to be the Giants’ backup catcher as a non-roster invitee this spring, Huff had spent his entire professional career with Texas after the Rangers drafted him in the seventh round in 2016.

In the top of the first inning, right-hander Landen Roupp threw a 95 mph sinker that appeared to hit the bottom of the zone, but home plate umpire John Bacon called the pitch a ball.

Roupp subtly grimaced, suggesting he thought the pitch was a strike. Huff shared the same thought, and tapped his helmet twice to signal he wanted a challenge. The jumbotron at Surprise Stadium showed an animated replay of the pitch barely clipping the zone and the pitch was changed from a ball to a strike.

Eldridge homers >> Bryce Eldridge, the Giants’ 20-year-old top prospect, capped off their first game of spring training with a no-doubt, 450-foot, 110.4-mph homer in the ninth inning off Matt Festa.

Making his Cactus League debut, the 6-foot-7 left-handed-swinging first baseman struck out on four pitches in his first at-bat. But when Festa grooved a 92 mph fastball down the middle, Eldridge didn’t miss his opportunity to clear the fences, nearly clearing the centerfield berm entirely.

“I honestly blacked out for that whole thing,” Eldridge said. “I really don’t remember it. I remember looking at the outfielder and he was acting like he was going to catch it. I was like, ‘I think I got that one.’”

Probable pitchers >> Logan Webb will start today against the Reds at Scottsdale Stadium and Hayden Birdsong will piggyback from there.

For Monday’s split squad games, Justin Verlander will start at home against the Rockies while Mason Black will start on the road against the Angels. Robbie Ray gets the call on Tuesday against the A’s and Jordan Hicks goes on Wednesday against the Cubs.

Melvin said Kyle Harrison is not part of the first rotation because he is a week behind schedule, adding that Harrison got sick and “there were a lot things leading up into camp that set him back a little bit as far as his bullpens go.”