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San Francisco Giants Veteran Outfielder Putting On Performance of a Lifetime
Apr 6, 2025; San Francisco, California, USA; San Francisco Giants right fielder Mike Yastrzemski (5) celebrates as he rounds the based during the fourth inning against the Seattle Mariners at Oracle Park. Neville E. Guard-Imagn Images

The San Francisco Giants are on an absolute tear to start off the 2025 season, going 8-1 and leading the NL West. Their success has been historic as they continue to win games via their talented roster and fundamental baseball.

One of the biggest issues for the team these past few years has been getting back to doing the small things and just making clean plays, and in 2025 that has changed completely.

This success is heavily reliant on the players who are exceeding expectations to start the year, including Heliot Ramos, Luis Matos, Jung Hoo Lee and Mike Yastrsemski.

The latter of the group is the longest-tenured active player on the Giants, and he's been having an exceptional season. He previously mentioned during the offseason that he is treating 2025 as possibly his last season, so with that said, he wants to leave it all out on the field.

This has most definitely been the case through the first few series, as he has played in eight of them, slashing .333/.484/.458 with three runs, four RBI, a home run, two stolen bases and seven walks to nine strikeouts. Additionally, his fielding has been high-quality with no errors.

He has had some good seasons in the past as well, but this is clearly something else, as he is truly digging deep to find another level of success compared to years prior. He is hitting consistently and efficiently but is also seeing the ball exceptionally well, as is shown by his 22.6% walk rate.

According to Baseball Savant, he is also showing pretty good percentiles in a few key stats, including expected weighted on-base average (xwOBA) in the 78th percentile, 74th percentile in expected batting average, 75th percentile in barrell percentage and 67th percentile in chase percentage.

Combining that information gives you a player who is hitting well, projected to continue to hit well, is making strong contact and is seeing pitches extremely well. This is pretty much all you can ask of a batter.

It's great to see this hot start from the veteran outfielder, and hopefully he can continue to play at a high level for the remainder of the season.


This article first appeared on San Francisco Giants on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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