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Mike Yastrzemski is headed for the MRI room, and the San Francisco Giants are crossing their fingers and hoping everything is fine.
The outfielder left Thursday’s game against the Seattle Mariners in the second inning, after experiencing tightness in his right calf. It seemed that the move was likely precautionary, but with Yastrzemski being the most valuable member of the Giants this season, precaution is needed.
Yastrzemski will have an MRI on Friday morning, with the Giants starting a series against the Oakland A’s in the evening.
Mike Yastrzemski will get an MRI in the morning. He left as a precaution. Felt it in the batter's box on a stride, Gabe Kapler said.
— Andrew Baggarly (@extrabaggs) September 18, 2020
Yastrzemski is having a spectacular year, hitting .285/.390/.553, and ranking ninth among all MLB position players with 2.3 Wins Above Replacement, per Fangraphs. With the Giants clinging to the final spot in the NL postseason field, and only having 11 games remaining, any time that Yastrzemski misses would be a devastating blow to San Francisco.
If Yastrzemski has to miss a few games, we’ll likely see more of Luis Basabe, who helped lead the Giants to a comeback win on Thursday. If Yastrzemski has to head to the Injured List, the Giants could call up Jaylin Davis, Steven Duggar, Daniel Robertson, or Chris Shaw to take his place.
Hopefully it doesn’t come to that. The Giants don’t have any more off days until the season ends, as they’re two games into a stretch of 13 games in 12 days to finish the year. They’ll want Yastrzemski back for as many of those remaining 11 games as possible.
We’ll let you know when the Giants release the results of the MRI.