SAN FRANCISCO — Seemingly everything is going right for the San Francisco Giants right now, even when it comes to injury updates.
It appeared their 10-game winning streak might have hit a snag in the sixth inning of their 4-2 win Wednesday night, when Mike Yastrzemski pulled up and limped into third base. But after undergoing an MRI Thursday morning, Yastrzemski said he believed he avoided the worst-case scenario and would be able to skirt a second stint on the injured list.
Yastrzemski left the game with tightness in his left hamstring, the same one that sidelined him for the first two weeks of May, but scans revealed only some inflammation and swelling, not enough to even earn a Grade 1 designation. Yastrzemski isn’t a doctor, but he can read a room.
“Everyone seemed pretty happy with it,” he said.
That said, the Giants are going to play it safe with Yastrzemski, and with him limited Thursday, they recalled speedy switch-hitting outfielder Bryce Johnson from Triple-A Sacramento. Right-hander Sean Hjelle, who tossed four scoreless innings in Wednesday’s win, was optioned out.
“You really got the sense that he had re-injured that hamstring and it was going to be a problem for a long period of time,” manager Gabe Kapler said. “I don’t want to say we’re completely out of the woods, but it feels less serious than that and we have the idea that perhaps he’s ready for play for us in the next couple days. I wouldn’t rule anything out even for today.”
Yastrzemski has played a key part in the Giants’ winning streak, their longest since 2004, delivering two clutch home runs while playing steady defense in right field. He walked off the Padres with a three-run splash hit in extra innings Monday night, and last week in St. Louis tied the game with a two-run homer after being down to their final strike. He is batting .306/.375/.667 with four home runs since the start of the winning streak.
He said he felt his hamstring “grab a little bit” while advancing first to third on J.D. Davis’ RBI single during the Giants’ four-run sixth inning Wednesday night but that it “felt nothing like the first time I did it,” charging for a fly ball in center field in the Giants’ second game in Mexico City.
“I didn’t feel much of it afterward. In my head I was thinking I still had adrenaline going, there was a lot of blood pumping. So I was thinking that I wasn’t really feeling anything because of that, but it feels about the same today,” Yastrzemski said. “So hopefully we’ll avoid something serious. … Obviously the team is rolling, so I want to be as much a part of that as possible.”
Hjelle makes strong impression
The message for Hjelle on Thursday was different than the last time he was optioned to Triple-A at the start of May. In four shutout innings, the 6-foot-11 turned in the longest outing of his career, his best showing of the season and flashed signs of the pitcher who put himself at the top of the pecking order for bulk bullpen innings in the spring. That pitcher disappeared during the first month of the season, but he reappeared Wednesday.
“We were having conversations before (Hjelle) came in — when I say we I mean me, (assistant pitching coach J.P. Martinez), (pitching coach Andrew Bailey), (catching coach Craig Albernaz) and (director of analytics) Michael Schwartze — we were talking about how he had this focus in spring training, almost like he was on mission,” Kapler said. “We sort of saw that in his eyes last night again, which is a really good sign.”
Posting a 10.13 ERA 10 games before being sent down, Hjelle, 26, was surpassed on the depth chart by another pair of young arms, Tristan Beck and Keaton Winn. The Giants appear to have three strong options to take down those bulk innings, in addition to Sean Manaea and Jakob Junis, who have served similar roles.
Hjelle, Beck and Winn have combined to take down 12 innings of relief the past three games while allowing one earned run.
Hjelle ended his outing with a seven-pitch strikeout of Fernando Tatis Jr., pumping his fist after he buried a knuckle curve into Blake Sabol’s glove for strike three.
“That last pitch that he threw to Tatis was really nasty,” Kapler said. “Those were some pretty good hitters that he got out. He’s fully capable of being that pitcher for us going forward.”
Source: www.mercurynews.com