For years Milwaukee Brewers star Christian Yelich has talked about not having his best swing at the plate. He maintained a high walk rate and on-base percentage, but the batting average and slugging had been missing. It appears he has found something out as a swing change initiated in early May has in a groove again at the plate.
In May Christian Yelich slugged .466 (eight extra base hits) and in June that number rose to .485 (12 extra base hits). The home runs are not flying yet, but he did post a .311 batting average during the month of June and since May 2 he has a .298 batting average. Switching back to a toe tap has been his key to success at the plate.
Milwaukee Brewers News: Christian Yelich has switched to a toe tap at the plate.
“What I had been doing wasn’t working. I don’t think it’s where I want it to be yet, but it’s kind of a work in progress. It’s not really reinventing yourself, but kind of just going about it in a little bit different way, if that makes sense.”
“Basically I went, ‘Alright, just because this is how I’ve always done it doesn’t mean it’s the only way to do it. I was kind of just like (expletive) it.’”
As pointed out above the results have been very good for Christian Yelich. His slash line this season is up to .272/.367/.429 and his OPS+ is 119. In June he led the Brewers in the following categories: runs (19), hits (32), doubles (10), walks (17), and stolen bases (6).
There is a good chance that he is named a reserve player for the All-Star game. Reserve players will be announced on Sunday July 2.
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