The Milwaukee Brewers released their starting lineup for tonight’s game against the Marlins earlier this afternoon. With their final road series of the season about to begin and the chance to formally secure a postseason spot, the Brewers are motivated. There was a name on it that was visually stunning.
The leader of the Crew and a former NL MVP, Christian Yelich, is back in the starting lineup for Friday night’s road game in Miami. And he is batting first in the order as he usually does once more.
Yelich has missed a number of games recently but is not expected to return from his injury list stint. He had only appeared in one of the previous thirteen Brewers games before today, and that was a home game against the Nationals that he left early in the eighth inning of a close game.
Yelich endured a string of bothersome back injuries in the years after the bizarre knee injury that ended his 2019 season early, some of which resulted in him missing some considerable time. But for the majority of the 2023 season’s start, he seemed to be in good health.
For the first time in years, he was beginning to look more like himself as a result. He even reached his MVP pace in the early months of 2018 at one point, but even when he slowed down a little, he was still one of the best players in the National League.
However, things began to cool down even more in August. Despite continuing to get hits and reach base, the extra base hits began to disappear, and over the course of the month, his slugging percentage dropped by almost thirty points. The decline in significant hits was noticeable, but there was no discussion of a back ailment at this time.
The pattern persisted until September 8th, when Yelich’s back problems flared up a little and he was sidelined following a victory over the Yankees. Days later, the team reported that they were seeing encouraging signs from him, but every day after that—aside from that Nationals game on the 15th—he remained on the bench but was not placed on the injured list.
And the Brewers’ September success probably made it possible for the team to keep sitting him and being cautious with his injury. Yelich took some time to adjust, but the Crew continued to win, so there was no reason to rush him back. The best player on the team should now be fully healthy.
The Brewers will soon turn their attention to getting ready for the postseason. When that moment arrives, it matters only that Yelich be prepared to lead the team into battle.
