:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/72237396/usa_today_20572188.0.jpg)
Happy Monday, San Francisco Giants fans.
On Sunday, the Giants had perhaps their worst — and easily their least lucky — play of the season. In the eighth inning of their Mexico City contest against the San Diego Padres, the Giants were trying to hold on to a 4-4 tie. The Padres had two runners on, but also two outs. The Giants had Camilo Doval on the mound.
Doval got Matt Carpenter to weakly pop up, hitting a bloop that had an expected batting average of .060. Mission accomplished, or so it seemed.
But it was headed for no-man’s land. Mike Yastrzemski came racing in from center field and dove, but the ball ricocheted off his glove, letting two runs score. The Padres would win 6-4.
The play might have cost the Giants the game, and it definitely cost them one of their best players. Yaz injured his hamstring on the route, and limped off the field very gingerly. You can usually tell the severity of an injury by a player’s body language leaving the field and, after the game, Yaz confirmed what his shoulders and facial expression had told us an hour earlier.
Yaz said he felt a pop in hamstring on his second step as he started to run to the game-winning hit. “It already happened, so I might as well try to catch the ball still,” he said. MRI tomorrow, but it’s likely he misses time. He joked he’s going to extend Mustache May into June.
— Alex Pavlovic (@PavlovicNBCS) April 30, 2023
Feeling your hamstring pop is not usually an injury that is cured with a glass of scotch, a few Advil, and the rubbing of some dirt. Realistically, the question for Yaz is not if he’ll land on the Injured List, but how many weeks he’ll stay there.
And the question for the Giants is: how do they replace him? The reasonable solution would be Bryce Johnson if he were healthy ... but he’s not.
The Giants could stick with Brett Wisely, who has struggled mightily in his limited time on the big league roster, hitting just 1-14 with 6 strikeouts. They could add the recently traded-for Cal Stevenson, who has been playing fairly well with AAA Sacramento. Or they could abandon the need for a left-handed hitting center fielder altogether and just play Austin Slater there everyday.
It’s a tough blow either way. Yaz has been hitting .292/.333/.521 with quality defense. Heal up, buddy.
What time do the Giants play today?
The Giants start a series with the Houston Astros tonight at 5:10 p.m. PT.
Loading comments...