:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/67426995/usa_today_13380415.0.jpg)
Mike Yastrzemski exited Thursday’s game between the San Francisco Giants and Seattle Mariners in the second inning, for reasons that are not yet known.
Yastrzemski started the game in right field, and hitting third in the lineup. He struck out in the top of the first inning, and made a defensive play in the bottom half of the inning. But when the Giants took the field for the bottom of the second, Yastrzemski had been replaced by switch-hitting prospect Luis Basabe.
Uh oh. Mike Yastrzemski is out of this game. Luis Basabe replaces him. Yaz had a long run for a foul ball, but nothing appeared amiss.
— Andrew Baggarly (@extrabaggs) September 17, 2020
Normally when a player leaves a game early, you see them express some discomfort. That didn’t happen with Yastrzemski; or if it did, it wasn’t visible on the broadcast or to Mike Krukow and Duane Kuiper, who were also confused about the move.
It could be that Yastrzemski tweaked something, or he could have been feeling ill.
Either way, his removal from the lineup is a hit to the Giants. He’s been the team’s most valuable player, comfortably leading San Francisco in Wins Above Replacement (2.3 fWAR and 2.1 rWAR).
Hopefully everything is fine with Yastrzemski, and we see him back on the field for the upcoming series against the Oakland A’s.