Michael Andrew Yastrzemski ( ; born August 23, 1990), nicknamed " Yaz", is an American professional baseball outfielder for the Kansas City Royals of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the San Francisco Giants. Yastrzemski played college baseball for the Vanderbilt Commodores, and was selected by the Baltimore Orioles in the 14th round of the 2013 MLB draft. He made his MLB debut in 2019 with the Giants. He is the grandson of Baseball Hall of Famer Carl Yastrzemski.
Yastrzemski began the 2014 season with the Delmarva Shorebirds of the Class A South Atlantic League (SAL), where he led the league with 10 triples and batted .306/.365/.554 (5th in the league) with 10 home runs and 44 RBIs. He was an SAL mid-season All Star, and appeared in the SAL all-star game. After the all-star game, he was promoted to the Frederick Keys of the Class A-Advanced Carolina League, where he batted .312 in 93 . He was then promoted again, to the Bowie Baysox of the Class AA Eastern League. Between Frederick and Bowie, Yastrzemski combined to bat .288 with 14 home runs, 18 in 24 attempts, and 18 triples, which led all of Minor League Baseball. He was an MiLB Orioles organization All Star.
Yastrzemski spent the 2015 season with Bowie, where he batted .246 with six home runs and 59 RBIs. He was a 2015 Eastern League All Star. He spent 2016 with both Bowie and the Norfolk Tides of the Class AAA International League, where he posted combined statistics of a .234 batting average, with 13 home runs, and 59 RBIs.
Yastrzemski underwent surgery after the 2016 season and was not healthy for the beginning of the 2017 season. During the 2017 season, he was with the Tides for 81 games between May and September, except for several weeks in June and July when he played 20 games with the Baysox. He returned to Norfolk in 2018. He was an MiLB Orioles organization All Star.
The Orioles invited Yastrzemski to spring training as a non-roster player in 2019.
On March 22, 2019, the Orioles traded Yastrzemski to the San Francisco Giants in exchange for minor league pitcher Tyler Herb. He was assigned to the Sacramento River Cats of the Class AAA Pacific Coast League to start the 2019 season, for whom he batted .316/.414/.676 with 38 runs, 12 home runs and 25 RBIs in 136 at bats.
For the 2019 season, Yastrzemski played in 107 games while batting .272/.334/.518 with 21 home runs, 55 RBIs, and 64 runs scored in 371 at bats. His 21 home runs tied Kevin Pillar for the most on the team. He was the first rookie since Dave Kingman in 1972 to hit more than 20 home runs for the Giants.
Yastrzemski received All-MLB second team honors for his performance during the season. He was 8th in voting for NL MVP and won the Willie Mac Award for being the Giants' most inspirational player.
On June 15, 2021, at Oracle Park, in a 9–8 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks, with the Giants trailing 8–5 in the eighth inning with two outs and having earlier trailed 7–0, Yastrzemski hit his first career grand slam, a go-ahead home run off of Humberto Castellanos into McCovey Cove for a "Splash Hit".
In the 2021 regular season, Yastrzemski batted .224/.311/.457 with 28 doubles, 25 home runs, and 71 RBIs in 468 at bats. He had a 2.26 range factor per 9 innings as a right fielder, leading the National League for the second season in a row. He was one of three nominees for a National League Gold Glove Award in right field, losing to Adam Duvall.
Yastrzemski and the Giants agreed to a $7.9 million salary for the 2024 season.
On September 1, 2024, at Oracle Park, against the Miami Marlins, Yastrzemski hit his 100th career home run, making his grandfather and himself the fourth grandfather-grandson duo in Major League history to each hit at least 100 career home runs.
Yastrzemski signed a contract with the Giants for 2025 valued at $9.25 million, avoiding salary arbitration.
Yastrzemski met Paige () at Vanderbilt. They married in November 2018 and have two children, a daughter and a son.
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