The VandySports 100: No. 61, Mike Yastrzemski

Vanderbilt baseball outfielder Mike Yastrzemski checks in at 61 on the list of 100 best Vanderbilt players we've covered. Follow our list as we count down to No. 1, here.

Honors and awards: 2011 All-Nashville Regional

2012 All-Southeastern Conference Tournament

2012 All-Raleigh Regional

2013 first-team All-SEC

2013 All-SEC Defensive Team

2013 NCBWA third-team All-American

2013 Nashville Regional MVP

In the VU record book: Career at-bats: third (842)

Career runs scored: eighth (176)

Career stolen bases: 11th (62)

Before VU: The grandson of Hall-of-Famer Carl Yastrzemski, Mike was as a three-year starter at St. John's Prep in Andover, Mass., and also a team captain. Was a first-team Salem News All-State pick. Drafted by the Red Sox in Round 39 in 2009.

Freshman (2010): Became the team's primary left fielder, fielding 1.000 with an assist, on a 46-20 (16-12 SEC) team that lost in Game 3 of the Tallahassee Super Regional. Played 24 SEC regular-season games, starting 12 and hitting .262/.340/.357 in them. Went 3-for-5 in the Louisville Regional title game. Drove in three runs with a double vs. Mississippi State, and also made a diving, game-saving catch with two outs in the bottom of the ninth.

Sophomore (2011): Started all 66 games for a 54-12 (22-8) team that shared the SEC title, finished runner-up in the SEC Tournament and made VU's first College World Series, where it finished tied for third. Moved to right, which he would man that season and the next two. In SEC regular-season games, hit .305/.436/.390, with two homers, 23 RBIs and 30 runs. Homered and drove in four against Oregon St. in the Nashville Super Regional. Had three hits in the NCAA Tournament opener vs. Belmont, and tripled to spark a rally against Troy later in the Nashville Regional. Was 3-for-4 with two steals and a two-run single to help VU beat Georgia. Was 3-for-5 with two runs vs. Tennessee. Homered in a win over LSU. Was 3-for-3 with three runs vs. Alabama. Had a two-run single in the eighth to help VU beat Auburn. Had three hits vs. Western Kentucky.

Junior (2012): Started all 63 games for a 35-28 (16-14) team that finished second in the Raleigh Regional. Fielded .970, with 10 assists and three double plays. Started all 30 regular-season games, hitting. 230/.321/.353 with two homers, 12 RBIs and 14 runs. Had four hits, two runs and two RBIs in a loss to North Carolina St. in the final game of the season. Homered in the late innings to tie in a huge game at LSU, a contest VU eventually won. Was 3-for-4 with a double and an RBI vs. Kentucky. Hit a two-run homer and threw a man out at first against Louisiana Tech.

Senior (2013): Turned down the Mariners, who picked him in Round 30 of the 2012 MLB Draft, to return to school. Started all 66 games for a 54-12 (26-3) team that set an all-time record for SEC wins. Fielded .982, had five assists and took part in two double plays. Started all 29 SEC regular-season games, hitting .407/.500/.574 with one homer, 19 RBIs and 31 runs scored, fielding .966 with two errors in those games. Was 3-for-5 with a homer in a win at Georgia. Had two hits vs. Missouri for his third multi-hit game in four outings. Had four hits, including a triple, in a win over Tennessee.

Post-VU: Picked by Baltimore in Round 14 of the 2013 MLB Draft, Yastrzemski got to AAA in 2016, where his career appeared to plateau. Then, at age 28--and now with San Francisco after a March 22, 2019 trade for minor-leaguer Tyler Herb--he was called up to the Giants on May 29. Yastrzemski took full advantage of the opportunity, becoming an every-day outfielder while hitting .272/.334/.518 with 21 homers, 55 RBIs and 64 runs scored. He enters 2020 as the starter in right.

Final thoughts, and why I ranked him where I did: Do you value dependability? Yastrzemski ended his career on a streak of 203-straight starts.

Want a guy who makes plays when it matters? Vanderbilt doesn't keep records on this, but, I think he's the only Commodore to make three all-regional teams. He was the MVP of one of them, and for good measure, was also on the 2012 All-SEC Tournament team, helping VU to a runner-up finish there.

Do you like versatility? Yastrzemski had a little pop (15 career homers, 48 doubles, eight triples), ran well (62-of-77 on steals) and defended well (good arm, capable of playing center if needed, made an SEC All-Defensive team).

What about peak value? Yastrzemski was more of a good player than a great one for most of his career, but, was a third-team All-American and a first-team All-SEC player as a senior. He hit .407 in league play that year, with an on-base percentage of .500, both marks you rarely see in the SEC.

How about winning? Yastrzemski was a regular on VU's first College World Series team and also on the team that had the best SEC regular-season in conference history. The 2010 team lost two one-run games to Florida State in a super regional, just missing making Omaha.

Yastrzemski wasn't a superstar, but he was a tough, gritty, dependable leader for four years. He helped vault the program back to national relevance following the program's stunning defeat in the 2007 Nashville Regional that left a mark for a couple of years. There's an argument that his peak value wasn't high or long enough to put him this high, but I think the body of work and the intangibles Yastrzemski brought justify the ranking.