The Royals add a lefty bat.
The Royals have acquired outfielder Mike Yastrzemski from the Giants, according to MLB.com reporter Mark Feinsand. The 34-year-old left-handed hitter is batting .231/.330/.355 with eight home runs in 96 games, worth 2.0 rWAR. He is the grandson of Hall of Famer Carl Yastrzemski. The Royals will send pitcher Yunior Marte to the Giants.
Mike Yastrzemski has spent seven years with the Giants as a pretty consistent corner outfield bat. He is a lifetime .238/.323/.444 hitter with solid defense. Last year he hit 18 home runs with a 110 OPS+ and was a finalist for a Gold Glove. He is pretty much a platoon bat at his point, hitting .254/.366/.393 against right-handers. Yastrzemski will be a free agent this winter.
Marte is a 21-year-old right-hander who had a 2.74 ERA in 19 starts with Low-A Columbia with 79 strikeouts in 82 innings. MLB Pipeline ranked him #20 in the Royals’ farm system, writing he has a fastball that is “typically in the 92-95 range with running movement.”
Yastrzemski joins a Royals outfield that has struggled to hit much of this season. Royals outfielders have combined to hit .215/.271/.322 for a wRC+ of 61, worst in baseball. Earlier this month, the team acquired Adam Frazier from the Pirates and Randall Grichuk from the Diamondbacks.