After Mike Yastrzemski left Sunday's game, it was likely the SF Giants outfielder would go back on the injured list. That proved to be the case. Just as they did when Yaz hurt his left hamstring in June, the Giants will replace him with former Miami Marlins prospect Isan Díaz.
Yastrzemski's hamstrings have now sent him to the injured list three separate times this season, part of the reason the team's medical staff is being overly cautious now. For the season, Yastrzemski is hitting .233/.314/.439 with 17 doubles and 11 home runs in 285 plate appearances. After a strong month of June, Yaz slumped badly in July, slashing .143/.284/.286 and striking out in a quarter of his at-bats.
In his two games with the big club earlier this season, Díaz is 0-8 with four strikeouts. But he's displayed good power with Triple-A Sacramento, putting up a .250/.337/.511 highlighted by seven home runs, after missing the beginning of the season with his own injury. In 2022, he was even better for the River Cats, hitting .275/.377/.574 with 23 homers in 83 games.
Díaz was drafted out of high school in the second round of the 2014 MLB draft by the Arizona Diamondbacks and decided to forego his commitment to Vanderbilt and turned pro. After Arizona traded him to Milwaukee for Jean Segura after the 2015 season, Díaz took off, hitting .264/.358/.469 with 20 home runs at Single-A. Just 20 at the time, Díaz emerged as a consensus top-100 prospect, ranking as 93rd, 65th, and 59th on Baseball America, MLB Pipeline, and Baseball Prospectus' respective prospect lists that offseason.
After a rough 2017 at High-A, Díaz was traded once again, this time to the Miami Marlins along with Lewis Brinson as a headliner in the package that brought Christian Yelich to Milwaukee.
Díaz made his big-league debut with the Marlins in 2019 and had MLB stints in each of the next three seasons, receiving extensive everyday opportunities at second base in 2019 and 2021. While Díaz posted respectable strikeout (27.8%) and walk (10.6%) rates in his 500 plate appearances with the Marlins, he struggled to generate enough hard contact to hold onto a starting job, hitting just .185/.275/.287.
While Díaz can fill in with the Giants' depleted middle infield, a Monday trade may provide a more direct replacement for Yastrzemski. A.J. Pollock, a right-handed hitter with experience at all three outfield positions, came over for the Mariners. In addition, right-handed Mark Mathias provides a platoon option for middle infielders Brandon Crawford, Brett Wisely, and Díaz.
Ultimately, Díaz is likely a stopgap option as the Giants wait for Thairo Estrada to return from his fractured left hand - he's taking infield grounders as he prepares to come back after a month off.
While Yasztrzemski is expected to miss a few weeks, the Giants do have other options. Luis Gonzalez returned to the Sacramento RiverCats July 25 after his back surgery, where he's hit .263/.391/.368 in five games. It's a good sign for the health of his back that he's stolen two bases already. And while there's no timetable for Mitch Haniger to return from his broken right forearm, he has commenced baseball activities.
Of course, with 21 hours until the trade deadline, anything can happen. But it's likely that the Giants are going with internal options to patch these roster holes for now.
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