Through Mike Yastrzemski's first 31 games with the Atlanta Braves, there appeared to be some genuine concern that signing him was a mistake. At that point, Yastrzemski was only hitting .196 with a pathetic .522 OPS. For a guy who is making $9 million this year and $10 million next, it was an inauspicious start to say the least.
Over the next week, Yastrzemski basically held steady. There were a few hits scattered here and there, which is better than what he had been doing. However, that power from spring training was nowhere to be seen, and there was little reason to believe that it was coming.
Oh, what a difference a week makes. After playing a prominent role in the Braves' breezy win against the Red Sox on Sunday, we may have finally gotten the version of Yastrzemski Atlanta was hoping for all along.
Ya like Yaz? 🐝#BravesCountry pic.twitter.com/HFdwpz0Sgu
— Atlanta Braves (@Braves) May 17, 2026
Mike Yastrzemski finally gave the Braves the performance they needed from him this week
In short, Yastrzemski has been awesome over the last week. Before Sunday, which saw him record two hits, including a homer, Yastrzemski went 4-7 over his last four games with two doubles and a homer. After Sunday's outburst, Yastrzemski has pulled his average up to .232 and his OPS up to .643 for the season. Neither of those marks is exciting, but they are significant improvements over what he was doing when he bottomed out earlier in the season.
The Braves don't need Yaz to be a star here. They have plenty of well-rounded hitters having good seasons, and we are starting to see some others finally breaking out of their funk. What they need Yastrzemski to be is a quality left-handed bat that they can play match-ups with. That's it. After this week, it seems like something woke up within him, and he was exactly that guy, and it was great.
Will Yastrzemski be able to continue this little run? That is somewhat unclear. The results over the last few days have been terrific, but Yastrzemski's hitting metrics under the hood are still a little too troubling to completely buy into what he is doing at the moment. However, if he keeps doing this, we may have to have a discussion as to whether or not Yastrzemski's role needs to be expanded.
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