Yaz stays hot with hopes to remain on Giants next season originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
SAN FRANCISCO — The Giants did so much damage in the early innings Wednesday that the Milwaukee Brewers turned to a first baseman to pitch the bottom of the eighth. It was a laugher at Oracle Park, and after playing 13 one-run games over the previous month, manager Bob Melvin took advantage and found a little extra rest for some of his veterans.
His outfield in the ninth was Heliot Ramos, Grant McCray and Luis Matos, a young trio that could join Jung Hoo Lee in future years to soak up most of the outfield at-bats. It’s a collection of talent the Giants are excited about, but they certainly aren’t going to forget about the longest-tenured player in the outfield mix.
Mike Yastrzemski had a homer, double and four RBI before Melvin gave him and Matt Chapman a breather at the end of a 13-2 blowout of the Brewers. That continued a solid second half for Yastrzemski, who has overcome a slow start to get to his usual numbers.
Yastrzemski’s wRC+ of 112 is right in line with his career mark, and he is up to 15 homers after hitting 17 and 15 the previous two seasons. At 1.7 fWAR, he has tied last year’s total with 16 games to go, largely on the strength of Gold Glove-caliber defense in right field and above-average baserunning.
The Giants once again know exactly what they’re going to get from the 34-year-old, which is a relief given where he was earlier this season. Yastrzemski’s OPS dropped under .600 in the middle of May and there were cries to dump both him and Austin Slater, but it has been a steady climb since that low point. He knows that could end up being the difference this offseason.
“After April I was pretty frustrated and just really wanted to battle back and prove my value, because I love this place. I don’t want to go anywhere for as long as I play,” Yastrzemski said. “I love the group here, the staff, the front office has treated me like family and they’re amazing, the fans are incredible and made it feel like home. The goal is to stay here as long as I can and I understand that that’s usually based on performance, so I’m just trying to continue to bring value every day, whether it’s leading in here [in the clubhouse], whether it’s playing the right way, whether it’s running hard and making some plays on defense.
“I want to just show value in every place that I can to try to stick around as long as I can.”
Yastrzemski has one more year of arbitration…