When the San Francisco Giants acquired Mike Yastrzemski from the Baltimore Orioles this past March in exchange for minor league pitcher Tyler Herb, there’s a good chance they didn’t anticipate him playing a pivotal role in a playoff push.
The 28-year-old hit a modest .250/.339/.414 with 28 doubles and 10 home runs in 491 plate appearances between Double-A and Triple-A last year, and five years after he was drafted out of Vanderbilt he was still awaiting his MLB debut.
After hitting .316/.414/.676 with 11 doubles and 12 home runs in 40 games at Triple-A Sacramento to open the year, that debut finally came on May 25.