Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports
The Giants have been nearing full health, with the return of Drew Smyly, the impending return of Kevin Gausman and at least the return of Austin Slater’s swing.
There is now another concern down the stretch.
Mike Yastrzemski left Thursday’s matinee at Oracle Park against the Mariners for the bottom of the second inning with a tight right calf, the Giants said. Luis Basabe replaced him in right field.
Yastrzemski had struck out in his lone at-bat and chased a foul ball that wound up in the stands in the field, but there was no obvious sign of discomfort.
Yastrzemski has been the club’s MVP — and a fringe NL MVP contender — and has played in all 49 games of the Giants’ season. He is slashing .285/.390/.553 with nine home runs in 179 at-bats, proving he is the real deal in Year Two with the team.
Without him, the Giants would be awfully shallow in the outfield. Basabe himself is a curious roster inclusion, a prospect picked up from the White Sox midyear and around for late-game defense that they can’t have from Slater, whose right elbow will not let him play the field yet. Darin Ruf, not a good defender, and Alex Dickerson, not a good defender, platoon in left, with Mauricio Dubon, formerly an infielder, manning center.