Denied of Yelich’s growing greatness
Brewers fans are missing their star
It was one of the greatest days in the 50-year existence of the Milwaukee Brewers.
The feeling throughout the organization as well as the team’s loyal fan base was one of euphoria Friday, March 6, when principal owner Mark Attanasio, president of baseball operations David Stearns and star outfielder Christian Yelich sat together at a dais in Milwaukee’s spring training facility to announce Yelich had agreed to a nine-year, $215 million contract extension that in essence would make him a lifetime Brewer.
“I’m really glad that I’m able to spend the foreseeable future here, the rest of my career as a Milwaukee Brewer,” an elated Yelich said that day of the surprising deal that included full no-trade protection and no opt-outs.
“Ever since I came here, it just felt like a natural fit.”
There was no way to know at the time that less than a week later spring camps would be shut down by the spread of coronavirus that quickly became a pandemic. The start of the 2020 season was put on hold and remains unresolved while management and the players union squabble over finances.
The disastrous turn of events has robbed Brewers fans, and all true connoisseurs of great baseball, of watching Yelich build on the most prolific back-toback seasons in franchise history. And doing so in the prime of his career at age 28. Who knows what greatness has been tabled after Yelich won batting titles in each of his first two seasons with Milwaukee, something no other Brewer accomplished even once in the team’s first 48 years?
“Certainly, the world has changed a lot since that moment,” Stearns said, referring to the day Yelich cut the Brewers a break by not trying to squeeze every last nickel out of them. “But, yes, I can still remember the good feelings.
“That’s a moment that will continue to define the organization over the next decade. It was, and continues to be, a proud moment.”
The Brewers thought Yelich was primed to take off when they sent four highly regarded minor-league prospects to the Miami Marlins on Jan. 25, 2018, to acquire him. Much of their optimism stemmed from the two-fold fact that he was an improving player at 26 and had five years of contractual control, including a team option for 2022.
But there was no way to foresee, even with the rosiest of eyewear, that Yelich quickly would evolve into one of the top offensive forces in the game, arguably the best in the National League. The biggest eye-opener was his transformation into a feared slugger, one who could seemingly knock a pitch out of the ball
park whenever it pleased him.
Playing in cavernous Marlins Park, Yelich had shown decent pop, with 21 home runs in 2016 and 18 in 2017. But, at that stage of his big-league career, in 643 games played over four-plus seasons, his .432 slugging percentage was hardly of Ruthian proportion.
Left-handed power plays nicely at Miller Park, one of the reasons the Brewers were intrigued by Yelich at a still young age, but he was considered more of a groundball/line-drive hitter without the requisite launch angle for banner homerun production. In his final season with the Marlins, Yelich hit grounders at a 55.4% rate.
But Yelich's approach changed after he was acquired by the Brewers, as did his setup at the plate. He began standing straighter in the batter's box and added more arc to his swing, resulting in a much higher fly-ball rate. His groundball percentage dropped to 51.8% in 2018 and a career-low 43.2% last season, as his flyball rate jumped to 35.9%, a personal high.
Understanding his swing better as well as how pitchers were attacking him, Yelich's pull rate also jumped to 39.3% in '19, his highest ever. And his hard-hit rate increased to 50.8% last season, far above the 35.2% of his last season in Miami.
Simply put, Yelich was doing more damage every time he put the ball in play. His slugging percentage jumped from .439 in 2017 with the Marlins to .598 in his first year with the Brewers, then another quantum leap to .671 last season. Yelich slugged a career-best 44 homers in '19 despite playing in only 130 games, missing the final 18 after fouling a pitch off his right kneecap and breaking it on Sept. 10, ironically while playing in Miami.
Before being sidelined, Yelich accumulated enough at-bats to qualify for his second batting title, which he captured with a career-high .329 average (he won his first crown with a .326 mark in 2018). He compiled an otherworldly 1.100 OPS, tops in the majors. And, showing he could impact games with his speed as well, Yelich stole 30 bases, another personal best, to become only the 10th player in MLB history to produce a 40/30 season.
Not surprisingly, the Brewers advanced to the postseason in each of Yelich's first two seasons, something they hadn't accomplished since 1981-82. He was the runaway National League most valuable player in 2018 for carrying his club past Chicago to the NL Central crown, and finished runner-up last season to Los Angeles' Cody Bellinger, no doubt losing some votes – fair or not – for missing most of the last three weeks.
Beyond his tremendous accomplishments on the field, Yelich struck the right chord with Brewers fans with an outgoing nature, fun-loving attitude, a knack for not taking himself too seriously, and fully embracing the Cheeser lifestyle, including chugging beer courtside at Bucks games. The young man from Southern California became a Midwesterner at heart.
“I just really enjoy playing in the city of Milwaukee and the state of Wisconsin,” he said. “The fan base embraced me from Day 1, and for me it's just a really special place to play. Our goal is to bring a World Series to Milwaukee and the Brewers organization, and we're now going to have that opportunity over the next nine years.
“I've said it many times that I've only been here two years, but it seems like a lot longer.”
The highly motivated Yelich had two driving forces, in particular, pushing him this spring before camps closed. The first was the frustrating memory of sitting out the final weeks of 2019, including the heart-wrenching 4-3 wild-card loss in
Washington. The second factor was some offseason social media blather, fueled by a cryptic tweet from Cubs pitcher Yu Darvish, that Yelich might have benefitted from sign-stealing at Miller Park.
Without question, Yelich has been a Miller Park monster, posting a 1.201 OPS there last season with 27 of his 44 homers. But he wasn't exactly chopped liver on the road, with an impressive 1.006 OPS.
When it was noted to Craig Counsell during spring training that Yelich finds motivation from his critics, the Brewers manager said, “We all use doubters, man.
“Anybody who says they don't use doubters in their life, I think they're crazy. No matter what line of work you're in, you use them. And if you use them the right way, that's really powerful.”
Those competitive fires and considerable talents were put on hold when COVID-19 shelved all sports. During a telephone interview from home in California during the early weeks of the shutdown, Yelich was asked how frustrating it was to be denied the opportunity to play while in a such a sweet spot of his career.
“You try to keep it in perspective,” he said. “We realize there are other things that come before baseball. Just talking in a pure baseball sense, of course it's frustrating. You only get to play for so long. Your career is such a short window. Potentially, losing a year right in the middle of it obviously sucks.”
Yelich is not the only elite ballplayer gathering dust. Los Angeles Angels fans have been deprived of further exploits by megastar Mike Trout, also in his prime at 28. Ditto with Bellinger and the Dodgers, and Alex Bregman and the Houston Astros. And imagine how frustrating it has been for LA fans to see the NL champs trade for Mookie Betts, only to have what might be his lone season there put on hold?
No one player is bigger than the sport but would you want to see the Rolling Stones without Mick Jagger? The E-Street Band without Bruce Springsteen? Would you pay more for a ticket to "Hamilton" if you heard Lin-Manuel Miranda had rejoined the cast? Of course, you would. Whatever your entertainment of choice might be, you covet the chance to see the very best perform.
Bucks fans no doubt experienced similar disappointment when NBA play was halted with Giannis Antetokoumpo leading the team to a possible title while making a run at another MVP trophy. But “The Greek Freak” provided 57 games of eyepopping entertainment before the shutdown, and the league already has announced plans to return to action, albeit in a bubble in Orlando.
Even if MLB and the players union hash out their differences and get back on the field for a shortened season, it appears no fans will be allowed to attend games, at least not in the early going. That development denies people the chance to watch in person the game's crème de la crème, such as Yelich, but catching the Brewers' star on TV beats a totally dark year.
This is not to suggest that baseball takes precedence over people losing their lives, or their livelihood, to COVID-19, or black men dying at the hands of white police. Nothing trumps those forces that have put the country in turmoil. But baseball long has held a revered place in our culture, thus its designation as the national pastime. And if you're watching baseball, you want to see the best it has to offer.
“That would be unfortunate (to miss Yelich's greatness in person),” Stearns said. “Step 1 is to get the team back on the field. We'll have a really good TV product. Step 2 is to figure out when it's safe and practical to have fans back in the ballpark.”
Brewers fans likely would agree that watching two months or so of Yelich beats not seeing his growing greatness at all.