Brewers get the positive update the desperately needed on Christian Yelich
The Milwaukee Brewers have been one of the most surprising teams in the National League thanks in large part to their dominant bullpen (even without Devin Williams) and the resurgence of former MVP winner Christian Yelich, who has had an awesome season.
Yelich's .315 batting average leads the National League entering play on Thursday, July 25, and he has chipped in 11 home runs and 21 stolen bases in his 73 games played. His 155 WRC+ is good for fifth in the National League for players with at least 300 plate appearances, according to FanGraphs. He won't win the MVP, but he's certainly been the Brewers' MVP thus far, and they lead the NL Central with his leadership.
Knowing how well Yelich has played this season, you can only imagine the worry from Brewers fans when a report surfaced that the star outfielder might've needed season-ending back surgery. A season-ending injury to Yelich might have ended Milwaukee's season at the same time. Fortunately, it sounds like they've avoided that, at least for now, according to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic.
Christian Yelich intends to rest and rehab his back rather than undergo surgery that would have ended his season, a source tells @TheAthletic. Offseason surgery is a strong possibility, the source says.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) July 25, 2024
Brewers get encouraging Christian Yelich update, avoid the worst, for now
Instead of the season-ending procedure, Yelich is planning on resting for now and returning to action this season. According to Adam McCalvy of MLB.com, Yelich might even return to action within a month, which would be an awesome development.
This injury is particularly concerning for Yelich because of his history of back troubles. He has landed on the IL four different times due to back issues including once this season when he missed a month of action. Back issues are tough to overcome, and it feels more likely than not that Yelich will require the procedure in the offseason, according to Rosenthal's tweet.
As annoying as a major offseason procedure would be, if the Brewers can get a somewhat healthy and rested Yelich down the stretch, their odds of making a deep run in October increase exponentially. They have the bullpen to close games, will almost certainly bolster their rotation at the deadline, and have a capable lineup as long as Yelich is in it performing at an All-Star level.
Hopefully, this back issue doesn't take away from his production too much this season when he does return, and it doesn't flare up causing him to get shut down in the near future. This Brewers team desperately needs him.
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