The Vanderbilt Baseball program is obviously no stranger to some of the SEC’s top players, many of which have gone on to become stars in the MLB as well. When looking at some of those names, where does Mike Yastrzemski rank among some of the Commodores recent greats?
Looking back at the Vanderbilt Baseball career of Mike Yastrzemski
A native of Massachusetts, Yastrzemski originally attended St. John’s Prep where he would be selected in the 2009 MLB Draft out of high school by the Boston Red Sox in the 36th round. As you likely know however, Yastrzemski would not sign with the Red Sox out of high school, and would instead go-on to play collegiate baseball at Vanderbilt.
Yastrzemski would go-on to appear a total of 58 games during his freshman season with the Commodores, batting for a .260 AVG at the plate during that span. Continuing that success as a sophomore in 2011, Yastrzemski would go-on to slash .296/.422/.378 during his second season in Nashville, driving in 42 runs offensively with an impressive 23 stolen bases.
The Vanderbilt outfielder would see a similar amount of success offensively as a junior in 2012, slashing .286/.383/.427 with a career-high six home runs, 41 RBI’s, and 14 stolen bases. Yastrzemski would end up receiving a few notable honors such as SEC All-Tournament Team during that 2012 season, and would go-on to be selected in the 30th round of the 2012 MLB Draft by the Seattle Mariners.
Yastrzemski would not sign with the Mariners at the conclusion of the 2012 MLB Draft however, and would instead return to Vanderbilt for his senior season. That senior season would eventually become a career-year for Yastrzemski as well as the senior would bat for a career-high .312 AVG with 43 RBI’s and 20 stolen bases in 2013 to earn First Team All-SEC and SEC All-Defensive honors.
Overall, Yastrzemski would hit for a combined .292 AVG for his Vanderbilt Baseball career, and would be selected in the 14th round of the 2013 MLB Draft by the Baltimore Orioles where he would begin his professional career. Yastrzemski would eventually make his MLB debut during the 2019 season with the San Francisco Giants where he has remained since, holding a career .843 OPS with 60 HR across 334 career games.