Mike Yastrzemski Rewarding Braves with Monster Spring Training

Spring training has gotten off to as good a start as it could for Mike Yastzremski. The Atlanta Braves' goal was to utilize him in the best matchups, and that's exactly what he's done.

On Friday, he belted two home runs and tacked on an RBI single for good measure. He said, following his first Grapefruit League game, that any big hit helps build confidence. However, it goes beyond a few good swings. He's batting .750 with a 2.800 OPS so far in four spring training games.

He couldn't hit the ball much better than he already is.

"It's one of those confidence things where it's like, OK, the work that we've been putting in has been paying off," Yastrzemski said after his day was over on Friday.

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Getting the chance to focus on what he does best, facing right-handed pitching, is working wonders. He thinks the occasional matchup against a lefty will help recalibrate his field of vision at the plate. However, it still helps focus on his main goal and further refine it.

While he's known for his power, Yastrzemski has made a goal during the spring to remain a pure hitter. Knowing his role with the team, it would be a disservice for him to get overly pull-heavy. So, while the home runs are nice and are what the Braves brought him in to hit, he can't get any tunnel vision.

"That's kind of that thought is make good swing decisions and put good swings on the ball and control was I can," he said.

Maximizing what you're able to get out of each hitter is what will allow the Braves to make up for no longer having a full-time designated hitter. Of course, Yastrzemski will see time at that position, but so far, he's mainly contributing in the field when he's not up at the plate.

He has seen action in left field for three of four games so far, with Jurickson Profar seeing the bulk of the action at DH. That could be a sign of the type of role he's expected to have beginning to take further shape.

While Profar is down with the Netherlands at the World Baseball Classic, we'll have an opportunity to see other ways he could be mixed and matched in the lineup. Ronald Acuña Jr. will be absent for a time for the tournament, so maybe we'll see him higher up in the lineup, where he has been penciled in for most of his career, and get some action in right field.

We've only seen the beginning of what he was brought in to do. First, it's the home runs. Next, it's the further test of his versatility.

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