Korean slugger Lee Seung-yeop of Japan’s Yomiuri Giants has been demoted for the first time since he joined the team.

The Japanese daily Yomiuri Shimbun reported Thursday that Lee was demoted to Yomiuri's minor league team due to recent struggles.

Unlike his strong performance batting cleanup last season, Lee has recorded a batting average of two-54, 14 home runs and 42 runs-batted-in this year.