From 2018-2019, Milwaukee Brewers outfielder Christian Yelich was arguably the best hitter in Major League Baseball. In his first season with Milwaukee, Yelich hit .326/.402/.598 with 36 home runs, 110 RBI, and 22 stolen bases. He won the NL batting title that year, as well as the NL MVP Award.
The following year, he was even better. Yelich hit .329/.429/.671 with 44 home runs, 97 RBI, and 30 stolen bases while winning another batting title and finishing second in MVP voting.
However, he missed the final weeks of the season after fouling a ball off of his leg and fracturing his knee cap. Despite the injury, fans expected that Yelich would return in 2020 and pick up where he left off.
But that did not happen.
Milwaukee Brewers Star Christian Yelich Did Not Return to MVP Form Until 2024
In 2020, a season shortened to 60 games due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Yelich hit just .205/.356/.430 with 12 home runs and 22 RBI. Many fans hoped that his prolonged hitting slump was due to the nature of the games, played in empty stadiums, or because of the strangeness of the situation as a whole.
But 2021 saw the then two-time All-Star limited to 117 games due to nagging back issues. He hit .248/.362/.373 with nine home runs, 51 RBI, and nine stolen bases, a far cry from what fans had come to expect from him.
Again, the hope was that Yelich would be “back” to his old self in 2022. And while he continued to get better at the plate, he was still far away from the types of numbers that made him a league MVP. That year, he hit .252/.355/.383 with 14 home runs, 57 RBI, and 19 stolen bases. But perhaps best of all, he played 154 games.
Yelich took another step forward in 2023, hitting .278/.370/.447 with 19 home runs, 76 RBI, and 28 stolen bases in a respectable 144 games.
And in 2024, fans were convinced the Yelich of old had returned. He hit .315/.406/.504 with 11 home runs, 42 RBI, and 21 stolen bases in 76 games played. He was voted as a starter to the All-Star Game for his third overall appearance in the Midsummer Classic, but his first being voted in by fans.
But then his back would not stop hurting. Eventually, Milwaukee had to shut him down for the season while he had surgery. The hope was that the procedure would finally fix the issue that had been nagging at him for years.
Milwaukee Brewers All-Star Christian Yelich Made His 2025 Spring Training Debut on Saturday
On Saturday, Yelich played in his first competitive game since his back surgery last season. He was 0-3 in his spring training debut with two strikeouts and a RBI groundout.
But he was not concerned with the outcomes at the plate. He told reporters afterwards that he is thrilled with how his body feels after playing in his first game:
“It was just cool to be out there, honestly, because it’s a long road from the last time I did it. Honestly, that was a victory in itself for me today.
“I honestly didn’t care what the results were at all. Just find out where you’re at and go from there. I thought there were some good things, some things that weren’t too good. But it was basically how I expected it to be, and my body felt good. That was pretty much the biggest concern of the day.”
If Yelich’s back issues are behind him and he can actually hit like he was hitting last year, the Brewers could be in for a special year.
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