What if Christian Yelich is healthy all season?
And what if that helps him become an All-Star again for the Milwaukee Brewers?
It could change the competitive arc of the National League Central for years, that’s all.
The Brewers already were off to the best start in the National League through seven games, thanks to the league’s best pitching (2.32 team ERA).
Their 6-1 start through Friday was their best since opening the 2019 season 7-1 — Yelich’s last All-Star season, when he followed his MVP-winning performance in 2018 with a runner-up finish.
“I feel good. I feel like I’m in a good spot,” Yelich said the first week of a 2023 season he hopes reverses a trend of injuries and offensive struggles since those two superstar seasons — and the franchise-record $215-million contract extension that followed in the spring of 2020.
“Obviously, I haven’t done as well as I would have liked the previous two years. But it’s kind of part of the game, man. It’s never smooth sailing, as much as you would like it to be. There’s ups and downs, and you’ve just got to battle through some things.”
Milwaukee Brewers outfielder Christian Yelich to Sportsnaut’s Gordon Wittenmyer
For Yelich that meant the fractured kneecap that ended his 2019 season in mid-September, recurring back issues and a case of COVID-19 in 2021, more back and neck issues in 2022, and a .243 average with a decrease in power production from 2020-22.
Why that arguably matters more now than, say, last year when the Brewers missed the playoffs by one win, is because of what the small-market Brew Crew battled through since the industry’s financial hit during the pandemic (and ongoing threat to broadcast revenues with this year’s bankruptcy of Diamond Sports, the parent company of the Brewers’ regional TV rights holder).
Simply put, if the Brewers don’t continue their strong start into what looks like a bona fide chance to challenge for a pennant by the Aug. 1 trade deadline, then frontline rotation studs Corbin Burnes or Brandon Woodruff could be on the block — and possibly All-Star shortstop Willy Adames.
All are under club control only through next season, and the Brewers already have soured the relationship with Burnes by taking the 2021 Cy Young winner in arbitration this spring and beating him.
And if it sounds crazy that they would gut a good-looking roster by trading any one or two of their top stars, Brewers fans don’t have to test their recall much to relive the bitter memory of last summer’s deadline, when the team traded bullpen ace Josh Hader — at a similar point in club control — to the Padres to leverage his best trade value.
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Informed speculation in Milwaukee heading into this season suggested at least one of the two rotation horses could be in play this summer, pending what the Brewers look like against the division-favorite St. Louis Cardinals, or perhaps even how they stack up against other league powers such as the Padres, Atlanta Braves or Los Angeles Dodgers.
Not that Yelich is some kind of savior who can singlehandedly dictate the direction of a franchise or a division. He certainly hasn’t resembled anything close to that since his two-year peak a few years ago.
| Christian Yelich stats | BA/OBP/SLG | OPS | bWAR | |
| 2018-’19 | .327/.415/.631 | 1.046 | 14.2 | |
| 2020-’22 | .243/.358/.388 | .745 | -0.1 |
But for a team with enough pitching to compete with anybody, and just enough ability to catch the ball well enough to compete, one impact left-handed bat — a $215 million impact bat — would dramatically change the complexion of a team that otherwise lacks the lineup firepower to match up with the likes of the Cardinals, Padres or Philadelphia Phillies.
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“I feel I’m in as good a spot as I’ve been in the last few years,” said Yelich, whose contract runs through 2028 (plus a mutual option for 2029). “Whether that translates to the success or not, who knows? But [it’s] at least giving yourself the chance for success or the opportunity to do well.”
Yelich, who reached base six times during the season-opening series win over the Chicago Cubs, said he doesn’t like to use injuries in recent years as a “crutch” or “excuse.”
And while his strikeouts were up the last couple years, the explosiveness off the bat when he made contact has still been there, and he continues to draw walks.
He was in the top 11 percent in baseball in hard-hit rate last year, and despite hitting just 14 home runs (compared to 80 in 2018-19), he ranked sixth in average distance on his home runs in 2022, including a 499-foot shot in Colorado in September that was the second-longest measured in baseball last year.
Does he have enough to rebound to All-Star levels this year? Enough good health and strength in that 31-year-old body to save a competitive window for a franchise and it’s World Series-hungry fan base?
He’s learned, he said, from his struggles. And he’ll try, he said.
And a lot of baseball will watch with great interest to see where that leads in what could be a crossroads season for the Brewers and this core.
“Where I’m at and feel like, I’m hopefully on the other side of some of that stuff and can just go back to playing again,” he said. “I’m excited for this year and to see what we can do with it.”
Gordon Wittenmyer covers Major League Baseball for Sportsnaut. You can follow him on Twitter at @GDubCub.