Christian Yelich is once again missing from the Milwaukee Brewers‘ lineup as they start their weekend series in Pittsburgh. Instead, Jake Bauers will fill in at DH while Yelich deals with back soreness that has bothered him ever since Milwaukee’s series with Arizona late last month. Before Friday’s game, Pat Murphy clarified the reason the team’s leading homerun and RBI man remains out of the order.
Brewers practice caution as Yelich progresses toward return
Beat reporter Todd Rosiak summarized Murphy’s pregame notes in a tweet this afternoon.
Pat Murphy on Christian Yelich:
— Mild improvement
— Not there yet
— We want the best version of him— Todd Rosiak (@Todd_Rosiak) September 5, 2025
Murphy projected on Thursday that Yelich would return against the Pirates, and while that could still happen, apparently it won’t be immediate. There isn’t much to glean from his comments, but at least Yelich is improving. Where the Brewers are right now, five games up in the division and 4.5 ahead of Philadelphia for the top playoff seed, they don’t have to push it. Yelich’s injury history, which includes season-ending back surgery in 2024, also suggests that caution is the play.
It helps, certainly, that Jackson Chourio is back, along with Bauers as another left-handed bat when the lineup needs it.
Perhaps Yelich could have avoided aggravating the injury to this point if he had taken more immediate steps, but that’s pure speculation. It’s also not who he is. He remained in the game he hurt himself, on a leg-out double in a one-run game, and played through several afterward because he wants to be there for his teammates and set an example of toughness, Murphy said Thursday. Yelich was prepared to play Wednesday before being scratched late. Resting the left-handed Yelich again against Phillies southpaw Ranger Suarez made good sense.
There are no matchup incentives today versus Pirates righty Johan Oviedo, but there is no reason to put him at risk. Although Brewers fans probably want the reassuring news that Yelich is back in the lineup, they also don’t want the team to risk making things worse. Even if he returned tomorrow, he might then be held out for Sunday’s quick turnaround to an afternoon game. It would not be surprising to see him rest up until the finale.
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