The Hawaii baseball team departed Tuesday with the slight possibility Maaki Yamazaki might be able to play shortstop for this week’s season-ending road games against Long Beach State.
An MRI taken on Saturday showed there is no structural damage to Yamazaki’s right arm, an ailment that has prevented him from making pain-free throws. Yamazaki has not played shortstop the past 10 games, instead making two appearances at second, three as the designated hitter and one as a pinch hitter.
“I think I feel better than last week,” Yamazaki said. “I hope to play (shortstop) this week. I’m going to try.”
Yamazaki’s condition has forced another shuffle for the Rainbow Warriors. Third baseman Ethan Lopez has filled in at short, with Dallas Duarte, who was recruited as a catcher, starting at third. Yamazaki and Brennen Hancock have split time at designated hitter the past two weekends.
“We have to pick who’s going to play,” coach Mike Trapasso said of the DH options. “That’s the way it’s going to be. That’s how it’s been.”
This season, only catcher Tyler Murray and first baseman Alex Baeza have remained at their natural positions. “You couldn’t even make this stuff up where you’re playing guys out of position for basically the whole season,” Trapasso said. “It is what it is. The guys have battled through this strange adversity as best they could.”
It was a hectic time leading to Tuesday’s morning departure from the UH campus to the airport for the final road trip of the season. Trapasso estimated that all but five or six players would remain on the mainland following Saturday’s conclusion of the three-game series. Trapasso said many of the players will play in summer leagues or wait to see if they are selected in the June 3-5 Major League Baseball Draft for First-Year Players. There were players scrambling to store belongings for the summer.
Yamazaki, a senior, said he probably will stay with teammate Dustin Demeter’s family in California after Saturday’s game. Murray and Baeza are playing summer ball on the mainland. Unlike last year, when he had to put his belongings in storage for the summer, Baeza is sharing a Makiki house with Murray and pitcher Logan Pouelsen. Baeza said it is convenient not having to move items into a storage unit this summer.
Relief pitcher Dylan Thomas said he has used each road trip to drop off items with his parents in California. Last year, the Minnesota Twins drafted Thomas in the 38th round. He turned down an offer to return to UH as a fourth-year junior. Thomas is projected to be picked in the first 10 rounds next month. The likelihood is Thomas will sign this summer.
Thomas said he has ended the lease on his off-campus apartment and has sold or thrown away many of the items he cannot bring to the mainland. He will return to Honolulu on Sunday to complete the rest of the move. He said teammate Jeremy Wu-Yelland has expressed interest in buying his car. “If not, it’s for sale,” Thomas said. “Maybe I’ll put a for-sale ad in the Honolulu Star-Advertiser.”
BIG WEST BASEBALL
>> Who: Hawaii (20-27, 8-13 BWC) at Long Beach State (11-41, 5-16 BWC)
>> When: 3 p.m. Thursday-Saturday
>> Where: Blair Field, Long Beach, Calif.
>> TV: None
>> Radio: KHKA, 1500-AM Thursday and Saturday; KKEA, 1420-AM Friday
>> Stream: ESPN3 Thursday, Friday; BigWest.TV Saturday
