The San Francisco Giants have made yet another roster move, designating Mac Williamson for assignment and promoting prospect Mike Yastrzemski.
As the San Francisco Giants continue to shuffle the roster in search of an offensive spark, the Mac Williamson experiment has come to an end.
After going 2-for-4 with a home run immediately after being promoted from Triple-A on May 7, Williamson went just 4-for-47 with a .085/.173/.106 batting line over his next 52 plate appearances prior to being designated for assignment on Saturday.
That included an 0-for-21 slump spanning his last seven games and eight strikeouts in his last 10 plate appearances.
Since Williamson was already designated for assignment earlier this year, he will have the right to refuse a minor league assignment and instead opt for free agency if he passes through waivers unclaimed.
Taking his place on the active roster is Mike Yastrzemski, who is the grandson of legendary Boston Red Sox Hall of Famer Carl Yastrzemski
The 28-year-old was a 14th-round pick by the Baltimore Orioles in 2013 out of Vanderbilt, and he joined the San Francisco Giants organization this past offseason as a minor league free agent.
He’s off to a great start at Triple-A Sacramento so far this season, hitting .316/.414/.676 with 11 doubles and 12 home runs in 163 plate appearances, and he has spent parts of the past four seasons at the Triple-A level, hitting a combined .251/.342/.442 with 116 extra-base hits in 1,229 plate appearances.
While has not appeared on prospect lists for a few years due to his age, he did check in at No. 18 on the Orioles’ top 30 prospect list at MLB.com to close out the 2016 season.
His scouting report read as follows:
"“Yastrzemski has a compact left-handed swing that generates line drives across the whole field, but it’s unlikely to translate to much power at higher levels. He has very good approach at the plate, with a strong knowledge of the strike zone that has translated to high on-base rates as a professional, though his strikeout rate did increase in 2015. He’s an average runner who can play all three outfield positions, something that should enhance his value even more at the highest level.”"
So while he might not be the long-term answer in left field, the Giants are hoping his hot start to the 2019 season will carry over to more success at the MLB level.
He will be starting in left field and batting seventh in his MLB debut on Saturday.
At this point, why not? Left field has been such an offensive black hole, there’s no harm in trying someone new who has earned a shot with his Triple-A performance.