Ex-Marlin Yelich enjoys view from first place
All-Star was traded to the Brewers in January.
MIAMI — If Christian Yelich doesn’t see J.T. Realmuto at the ballpark before the Brewers leave town, he hopes to catch up with his former teammate and closest friend on the Marlins in the hospital maternity ward over the next couple of days.
“It’s only fitting he had a kid when I came back into town,” Yelich said of Realmuto, who was placed on the paternity list on Monday in order to be with his wife for the birth for their first child.
Realmuto could miss the entire
three-game series with Milwaukee.
But, at the very least, Yelich and Realmuto will be together next week in Washington, D.C., for their first All-Star Game, something both dreamed about as young minor leaguers and on up into the majors.
They just won’t be goi ng together as Marlins after four years in Miami as teammates. Yelich was traded to the Brew-
ers in January, turning their friendship as Marlins into a long-distance one.
“We were talking yesterday about how it would be special to share our first All-Star Game experience together,” said Yelich, who exchanged phone texts with Realmuto during Sunday’s All-Star selection process.
“It’s only fitting,” Yelich said, “because we have so many memorable moments in our baseball careers together, coming up through the minor leagues together, getting drafted the same year (in 2010), going to rookie ball at the same time, being rookies in the big leagues together, going through all those ups and down.”
They were teammates at Low A Greensboro, High A Jupiter and Double-A Jacksonville. Yelich made his big league debut with the Marlins in 2013, one year before Realmuto did the same.
They shared an apartment in South Florida, talking baseball and life after wins and tough losses, until Realmuto married last year and Yelich found a place of his own.
Now they’re worlds apart in the standings, with Yelich on the first-place Brewers, who own the best record in the National League, and Realmuto still with the lastplace Marlins, who have the worst record in the NL.
“It’s been fun,” Yelich said of his initial months with the Brewers after spending
five seasons with the Marlins. “It’s been fun coming to the ballpark everyday. It’s been a great atmosphere, not just in the clubhouse, but also when we’re at home at Miller Park.”
But Yelich said he also enjoyed his time in Miami even though the Marlins never once finished with a winning record during his time there.
“I really did enjoy my five years here,” Yelich said. “There were special moments, lots of ups and downs, great memories. There will be some emotions — strange feelings — for maybe that first at-bat (he singled his first time up Monday).”
Yelich sees a Marlins team now that reminds him of the one he first played with in 2013, a rebuilding franchise with a young cast of players.
“They definitely have some talent,” Yelich said. “It just takes a while for it to all come together. But I think it’s going to be very similar to what we had, as far as everyone coming up together, learning to play with each other. It should be fun.”
Yelich said he also remains in touch with Giancarlo Stanton, Marcell Ozuna and Dee Gordon, former Marlins teammates who were each traded last winter.
“We had some (good) teams,” Yelich said. “We held it together for a while. It just didn’t work out for us (in Miami).”