On May 11 of last year, Christian Yelich for the third time in his career hit for the cycle (single, double, triple, and home run in a game). He joined a small group of MLB players who have hit for the cycle three times in a career: Bob Meusel, Babe Herman, Adrian Beltre and Trea Turner.
Brewers who have hit for the cycle in team history
Yelich is one of eight Brewers to hit for the cycle, and the only one to do it multiple times. In fact, the last three cycles hit by a Brewers’ player were by Yelich; twice in 2018 and once last year. The other Brewers to accomplsih this feat: George Kottaras, Jody Gerut, Chad Moeller, Paul Molitor, Robin Yount, Charley Moore, and Mike Hegan.
But did you know that Yelich has fallen one hit short of the cycle 11 times in his career? Four times when he was with the Marlins, and seven times as a member of the Milwaukee Brewers. In fact, Yelich was one of eight Brewers’ players last season who had a single, double, and home run in a game, but no triple.
Let’s look at some hitting for the cycle numbers from last season. Five players, including Yelich, hit for the cycle in 2022. The others were Nolan Arenado (St. Louis), Eduardo Escobar (NY Mets), Austin Hays (Baltimore), and Jared Walsh (L.A. Angels). In addition, there were 284 times last season where a player was one hit short of the cycle. The statistical breakdown of those 284 times:
One hit short of hitting for the cycle in MLB in 2022
Triple, double, single (no home run): 27 times
Double, single, home run (no triple): 231 times
Single, triple, home run (no double): 24 times
Home run, triple, double (no single): 2 times
The Brewers in 2022 had 12 times where a player fell one hit short of the cycle. Catcher Omar Narvaez on May 29 last season had a single, double, and triple in a game versus the Cardinals, but did not get the HR to complete the cycle.
In the other 11 times, a Brewers’ player had a single, double, and home run, but fell short of the cycle by not hitting a triple. Here are the eight Brewers who in 2022 fell one hit short (a triple) of hitting for the cycle:
Brewers who fell a triple short of the cycle last season
3-Hunter Renfroe
2-Willy Adames
1-Andrew McCutchen, Tyrone Taylor, Rowdy Tellez, Luis Urias, Kolten Wong, Christian Yelich
As noted above, getting that triple is the one hit that prevented batters in 2022 to fall short of the cycle. In fact, in 81.3 percent of the cases where a player last season fell one hit short of hitting for the cycle, not getting a triple was the reason.
In 2022, 156 different players fell a triple short of the cycle. Leading the way was Mookie Betts of the Dodgers; he fell a triple short of the cycle six times last season. Teammate Freddie Freeman fell a triple short five times, while Aaron Judge, Paul Goldschmidt, and Nolan Arenado each fell short of the cycle four times because of no triple in the game.
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