The Milwaukee Brewers’ hopes for a deep postseason run don’t depend entirely on Christian Yelich. But compared to the rest of the projected National League playoff field, it’s hard to argue that any player means more to his team’s success than Yelich does to the Brewers.
Yelich is hitting .315 with a .406 on-base percentage — both tops in the NL — in 73 games for Milwaukee this season. His .909 OPS would be his highest since 2019 when he finished runner-up to Cody Bellinger in the NL MVP race.
Entering Thursday’s game, no other Brewers hitter had an OPS above .787. As manager Pat Murphy told reporters, “For what Yeli does for this lineup and this clubhouse, I don’t know there’s too many players who can replace him. … This is huge, no matter how serious. Whatever number of games we lose him for, it’s serious.”
There was understandable cause for concern Wednesday when Yelich told reporters he was meeting with a specialist, and hadn’t ruled out the possibility of season-ending back surgery.
Although Yelich was placed on the 15-day injured list Wednesday and will miss a minimum of 12 games, the Brewers later got the verdict they were hoping for: Yelich will opt for rest and rehabilitation instead of surgery.
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According to multiple reports Thursday, surgery is off the table for now. MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy reported Yelich isn’t out of the woods with the back injury that caused him to miss a month earlier this season, but he at least appears to have avoided the worst-case scenario facing the Brewers:
Yelich saw a back specialist on Thursday to discuss his options, which run the gamut from rest and treatment to season-ending surgery, and he opted to try a non-surgical comeback first, according to a source.
There’s optimism, the source said, that this IL stint will be shorter than the one earlier this season. But back injuries offer no guarantees, and offseason surgery remains a possibility.
The Brewers entered Thursday’s off-day with a 59-43 record, six games better than the second-place St. Louis Cardinals in the National League Central, and two games behind the Los Angeles Dodgers for the coveted No. 2 seed in the NL.
Yelich had a 1.146 OPS through his first 10 games of the season before the first bout with the back injury sent him to the IL from April 12 through May 8. Even if he returns at less than 100 percent health, there’s optimism he can be a productive force in the Milwaukee lineup.
In 2018, his first season in Milwaukee following a trade from the Miami Marlins, Yelich won the MVP award and made the first of his three All-Star teams. He’s arguably no less valuable to the club now.
Yelich remains on the 10-day injured list and can return as early as Aug. 3.
Uncommon Knowledge
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