Is Christian Yelich back?

[Brock Beauchamp]

I don’t think we’ll ever see MVP Yelich again but is it possible we’re seeing a return of Marlins Yelich?

[Harold Hutchison]

Marlins Yelich wasn't a 30 HR threat.

I can see Brewlins Yelich, though, kind of a split between MVP Yelich and Marlins Yelich for 3-4 years.

[homer]

A little better than 2022:

[Brewcrew82]

17 minutes ago, homer said:

A little better than 2022:

OAA and arm strength increase, though...

[wiguy94]

4 minutes ago, Brewcrew82 said:

OAA and arm strength increase, though...

His max throw this year was 95.3 according to Savant. The last 3 years his max was 88.1, he must physically be feeling better than he has in quite a while.

[igor67]

Those raw physical numbers definitely suggest an increase in health, which makes me more likely to believe this weekend was a sign of good things to come.

[Pugger]

1 hour ago, igor67 said:

Those raw physical numbers definitely suggest an increase in health, which makes me more likely to believe this weekend was a sign of good things to come.

I sure hope so...

[DHonks]

Thanks for posting the metrics.  It’s interesting, because his defense doesn’t pass the eye test and these are not glowing reviews.  However, they are showing progress.  It’s always awkward how much our announcers rave about his defense.  

Also interesting is that his walk rate is down, but some hitting numbers are up.  

[homer]

I posted a tweet from someone talking about launch angle but it pasted in a bunch of other stuff so here is the gist:

His launch angle this year is his highest since 2019. As such, he's hitting more fly balls and fewer ground balls than the past two years. 

He had a stretch last year where it also looked like "Yelich was back" but then he reverted back to meh. I'll get excited if this lasts into June.

[MrTPlush]

Three good games against a garbage opponent? This is non news...at least for now.

[TURBO]

21 minutes ago, MrTPlush said:

Three good games against a garbage opponent? This is non news...at least for now.

Yeah, we've seen this before.  I hope something clicked, but it's best not to count on it.

[owbc]

If he can keep up this 4 WAR pace that's fine with me. 

[StearnsFTW]

1 hour ago, owbc said:

If he can keep up this 4 WAR pace that's fine with me. 

Over 5 on FanGraphs and pretty close to 5 on BBfref.

 

Nit-picky, but still.

 

At this pace he's a bargain at $26,000,000.

 

[wallus]

31 minutes ago, StearnsFTW said:

Over 5 on FanGraphs and pretty close to 5 on BBfref.

 

Nit-picky, but still.

 

At this pace he's a bargain at $26,000,000.

 

Did not expect to read that about Yelich a week ago 

[BruisedCrew]

I didn’t vote in the poll because none of the choices reflect what I think.
 

My benchmark for Yelich is first half of 2018, which statistically looked pretty similar to his last couple of years with the Marlins. But it was really our first chance to see him in action on a regular basis, and I was impressed with how he sprayed the ball around the field and flashed some power. At the All Star break I think he had about 12 HR and an OPS in the low .800s..

Nobody could have predicted what he did for the next year and a half, which might have been aided by what appeared to be a lively ball.

Because he had a stretch right about this time last year that made it look like he was returning to form, I’m at best hopefully optimistic that he’s going to return to something close to that benchmark.

I recall that even in his best years Yelich had some issues with upper body injuries, like back spasms and maybe an oblique issue that put him on the IL . Maybe some of the numbers about his throwing indicate that he is healthier than he has been for a few years.

🤞🏻Fingers crossed 

 

 

 

[wiguy94]

1 hour ago, StearnsFTW said:

Over 5 on FanGraphs and pretty close to 5 on BBfref.

 

Nit-picky, but still.

 

At this pace he's a bargain at $26,000,000.

 

His hitting needs to tick up to maintain that pace because LF basically never have positive defensive value at the end of the season.

[StearnsFTW]

3 hours ago, wiguy94 said:

His hitting needs to tick up to maintain that pace because LF basically never have positive defensive value at the end of the season.

True.

 

I'd take 3 WAR happily though. 

[wiguy94]

2 minutes ago, StearnsFTW said:

True.

 

I'd take 3 WAR happily though. 

The good news is he's still way underperforming his peripheral numbers at the plate so the offense ticking up is easily an option

[Team Canada]

Don't look now, but if you don't count Toro's 8 ABs, Yelich has the highest OPS on the team.
That's more of an indictment of our terrible offense, but it's not nothing.

[shanedog19]

Is it shortsighted of me to want Yelich to play well so his trade value increases? His contract just seems like an albatross around a franchise with little money to spend. 

[Harold Hutchison]

I'm wondering if "Marlins-plus" Yelich - someone who can be a 30-30 threat - is what the Crew is getting.

[edfunderburk]

He has looked very good lately - I hope he stays hot

He’d have to play extremely well for anyone to trade for him 

 

[Brock Beauchamp]

Just as a frame of reference, I wanted to compare 2023 Yelich to 2020-2022 Yelich through the same number of games.

2023: through 65 games, he is slashing .269/.361/.430

2022: through 65 games, he slashed .238/.323/.375

2021: through 65 games, he slashed .244/.393/.380

2020: shortened season, in 58 games he slashed .205/.356/.430

There is definitely reason to be optimistic here but I see quite a bit of cross-over between those previous slashes, just in different years.

[Thurston Fluff]

On 6/14/2023 at 1:24 PM, shanedog19 said:

Is it shortsighted of me to want Yelich to play well so his trade value increases? His contract just seems like an albatross around a franchise with little money to spend. 

No, just forgetful that he has a full no trade clause and no reason to waive it. For him to waive it would require the Brewers to suck with little to no hope for them to turn it around during the life of the contract.

[homer]

On 5/14/2023 at 7:41 PM, homer said:

A little better than 2022:

Latest numbers. Barrel % and Walk % are way up since my last post (may 14):