Yaz, Part II

The reason why September is such a fun month is that the rosters open up a little and you get to see all these minor-league lifers finally given a chance to join the show, take some reps, and audition for next year. And you're seeing that all over- big time prospects like LA's Gavin Lux and Toronto's Michael Kay are getting their shot at the bigs, because they've got nothing else to lose.

The most interesting AAA-lifer to make it this year debuted back in May. Mike Yastrzemski, a guy I saw play for Norfolk against the Toledo Mud Hens, finally got called up to the majors at age 28. Apparently it wasn't enough for some people that Mike was Carl Yastrzemski's grandson- he had to walk the walk too, and with 83 games in the majors, he's batting .265 with 18 home runs and 48 RBIs, which isn't too bad.

The reason why Yaz is making such a splash in San Fran is...with the exception of the mainstays from the early part of the decade, like Buster Posey, Brandon Crawford, Brandon Belt and Madison Bumgarner, a lot of the team isn't set in stone, and a lot of the roster is subject to trying shit. Like, Alex Dickerson was thrown into a outfield spot after a few years of kicking around San Diego, and now he's hitting .325 in 44 games with a 1.004 OPS. With Buster Posey injured, the Giants brought on Stephen Vogt to see if he had anything left in the tank, and Vogt brought his lovable everyman qualities back to the bay area, with 8 home runs and a .272 average as backup. After deciding that neither Scooter Gennett nor Joe Panik was good enough for 2nd base in San Fran, the Giants settled on former Miami backup infielder Donovan Solano, and he's hitting .339 in 61 games.

A lot of this team doesn't occupy normal logic. Did you honestly expect it to?

I mean, you do get some call-ups, like Logan Webb and Connor Menez, who subscribe to normal rookie customs, but...other than that, this is a weird-ass team. They're not making the playoffs, and they're barely below .500, but...there's still some compelling, weird bits of this team that are refusing to stay quiet, which is kinda nice.

I kinda wanna know how this breakneck philosophy will translate to 2020. What Giants team will be left then? And will it be as weird as this one?

Coming Tomorrow- A guy named Eddie who's been more consistent than either David Price or Chris Sale this year.