SAN FRANCISCO -- A week ago, Mike Yastrzemski was leading off for the Giants. On the first night of this homestand, he was batting sixth, but for the next three games, he was out of the lineup entirely.
Thursday's decision came with an easy explanation. Yes, the Giants wanted to get another look at Daniel Johnson, who shined in his debut a night earlier, but Yastrzemski also was hitless with eight strikeouts in 11 previous at-bats against San Diego Padres starter Dylan Cease.
It was still a third straight game out of the lineup against a right-handed pitcher, which had to be a bit of an uncomfortable feeling for a veteran who watched fellow long-time Giant LaMonte Wade Jr. get DFA'd on Wednesday. But manager Bob Melvin said he anticipates Yastrzemski starting in right field Friday night against the Atlanta Braves.
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Yastrzemski was a savior for the Giants early on, moving to the leadoff spot when Wade struggled and posting a .385 on-base percentage with five homers through his first 38 games. Much of May was a struggle, though, and he has just one extra-base hit and a .167 average over his last 19 appearances.
"It's probably pitch selection, some of the swings he's getting. He was getting good pitches to hit and wasn't missing them. Now maybe he's missing them a little bit," Melvin said. "But I do think we probably played him a little bit more than maybe he's used to playing. There was a little platooning in the past. We haven't seen a ton of lefties. He has played against lefties.
"I think there was an element where he might be a little run down right now and I don't know that a couple days of break won't be good for him."
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At the time that he was let go, Wade had the fourth-lowest batting average in baseball since the start of the 2024 second half. The lowest belongs to Patrick Bailey, but the catcher is showing signs that he might be coming out of a prolonged slump.
Bailey hit a long double in Miami that would have been a homer in 19 ballparks, and his RBI double on Wednesday night would have been out in one-third of the league's parks. For the first time in nearly a year, Bailey is consistently driving the ball. He has three doubles during a modest five-game hitting streak that has raised his OPS to .540, his highest since April 16.
"It just looks like he's tracking the ball a little bit better, not swinging and missing or guessing and missing by a lot," Melvin said. "He's driving the ball to right-center field and that's a pretty good indication that he's seeing it a lot cleaner. That's actually been going on for the last week or 10 days. He's swinging it a lot better."
Bailey leads all catchers with eight Defensive Runs Saved and is tied for second in Catcher Framing Runs and Pop Time. He doesn't need to provide much at the plate to be a valuable player, but even he admitted recently that some of the numbers over the first two months were unacceptable. It looks like he might finally be headed back in the right direction.
Ready For Coors?
The Giants are being cautious with Justin Verlander's rehab, which was supposed to guarantee Kyle Harrison at least four starts. But Harrison came out of Wednesday night's game after getting hit on the arm by a comebacker, which caused an elbow contusion. Melvin said Harrison was doing "a little better," but the staff would have to wait and see how he feels after he throws his scheduled bullpen session this weekend.
The Giants have an extra day off before Harrison's next scheduled start, which should help. If he's not able to go, top prospect Carson Whisenhunt would be on normal rest -- although making your debut at Coors Field is a little rough.
The Giants also could go with a straight bullpen game, which wouldn't be difficult given that they have three long relief options -- Spencer Bivens, Tristan Beck and Sean Hjelle -- in their bullpen. Hjelle threw 2 2/3 hitless innings in relief of Harrison on Wednesday, picking up right where he left off last season.
"It was as big a contributor to the win (Wednesday) night as anything, what Hjelle did to keep us (close)," Melvin said Thursday. "He came in in the middle of the inning, pitched two more, shut them down and gave us a chance to come back. That was huge. It's not lost on us. Without that, they score a couple more runs and we're probably not in the position to come back."
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