Slugger Lee Seung-yeop is being hailed as the top player thus far in the inaugural World Baseball Classic.

In an online poll conducted by American sports network ESPN, Lee is leading the race for best player with some 7,800 votes, or 34.2 percent of 23,000 votes cast. U.S. baseball star Ken Griffey Jr. is in second with 32.4 percent of the votes.

Additionally, the highest proportion of respondents -- 27.7 percent of the total votes -- chose South Korea as the team most likely to win the Classic. The Dominican Republic and the United States finished second and third respectively in the online poll.