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SAN FRANCISCO — Giants outfielder Mike Yastrzemski missed Monday’s game against the Arizona Diamondbacks with soreness in his left hand/wrist and is considered day to day after he was hit by a pitch in the Bay Bridge Series finale against the A’s.
Yastrzemski was hit by a Jake Diekman pitch in the seventh inning Sunday in what became a 5-4 Giants win. Yastrzemski stayed in the game and was later caught stealing third base, but was taken out in the ninth for pinch-hitter Alex Dickerson.
Manager Bruce Bochy said Yastrzemski, who has an OPS of .959 this month with eight home runs and 16 RBI, could play Tuesday.
“There’s a little bit of swelling there. It’s a pretty good contusion,” Bochy said.
Yastrzemski was replaced in left field by Abiatal Avelino, who was called up from Triple-A on Aug. 18. Avelino never played an inning in left field with Sacramento this year and in the one game he played this year with the Giants in the field, Aug. 20 against the Chicago Cubs, he played shortstop. He did play some outfield in the Dominican Winter League.
Bochy said he wants to pick his spots for Dickerson, who was available but hasn’t had much success hitting left-handed pitchers. He is batting .339 with an OPS of 1.028 in 47 games against right-handed this season, but is just .235 with an OPS of .647 in 16 games against lefties. The Diamondbacks started left-hander Alex Young on Monday.
“I wanted to get Avelino some at-bats. He’s been up here a while,” Bochy said. “This gives him a chance to get some playing time. He’ll be fine. He’s a good athlete.”
Dickerson is hitting ,240 in nine games this month since he missed two weeks with a right oblique strain. He went 3-for-6 with an RBI and two runs in two games against the A’s.
“I wouldn’t say I’m 100 percent. You never are at this point in August,” Dickerson said. “Started last couple days, the swing’s starting to feel like it was coming along. Should be just a couple more batting practices under my belt. Kind of a rehab process, I did do a really accelerated one. Haven’t felt great in the box, but that’s to be expected.
“It did start feeling better in Oakland and hopefully it continues here.”
Will Pablo hit again?
Pablo Sandoval said no specific date has been set for his Tommy John surgery, although he’s still set to have the procedure the first week in September.
Whether he gets to hit at least one more time at Oracle Park before the homestand is over is also uncertain. Sandoval has done very little baseball activity in recent days, and he hasn’t played since Aug. 9.
“It’s not my decision,” Sandoval said.
Sandoval’s clubhouse neighbor, Kevin Pillar, then interjected, saying, “My guy here is going to continue to try to get back. He would love to get one more at-bat. Obviously, we’re still in playoff contention here, so we’re not going to have any monkey business. We’re still trying to compete.
“With the rosters expanding here soon in September, hopefully Pablo can put himself in a position where medically they clear him to be able to go out there and maybe take one or two at-bats. Maybe Pablo finds out that there’s some treatment over the next couple of days that he can continue to swing the bat.”
