Mike Yastrzemski returns, Luke Williams optioned

The San Francisco Giants are getting some reinforcements before their series finale against the Los Angeles Dodgers. The team announced on Wednesday afternoon that Mike Yastrzemski was being reinstated from the Injured List. To make space for Yaz on the active roster, utility player Luke Williams was optioned to AAA Sacramento.

Yaz hasn’t played since April 23, after having a positive COVID test. He was the first of five Giants to have a positive test (Steven Duggar, Brandon Belt, Dominic Leone, and Zack Littell are the others), and the first to return as well. He’ll jump straight into the lineup, starting in center field and hitting sixth against Dodgers righty Tony Gonsolin.

The left-handed Yastrzemski is hitting .267/.340/.356 in 14 games this season. Due to the low-offense environment this season, that .696 OPS has still been comfortably above league average, as he has a 106 OPS+ and a 112 wRC+.

Williams has bounced between San Francisco and Sacramento this season. He’s appeared in eight games with the Giants, and hit 3-12 with a double. We’ll surely see him again at some point in this season.

Players who are on the IL due to COVID are eligible to have their spot on the 40-man roster temporarily cleared, which means the Giants have some work to do to create space on not just the active roster but the 40-man roster as they welcome back their COVID cases. They’ve already made a corresponding move to welcome back Yaz (and another player), as they waived Jason Krizan (who was outrighted to Sacramento) and Cory Abbott (who was claimed by the Washington Nationals).