Every batter within the Major League Baseball hopes for a hot start, but what reigning National League MVP Christian Yelich has done is the stuff of legends.
On Sunday, Yelich officially put himself squarely in rare company by blasting his fourth home run in as many games. Facing an 0-1 count off of St. Louis Cardinals starter Michael Wacha, Yelich blasted a 408-foot shot that traveled at 107 mph. It marked the second straight day that Yelich homered in his very first at-bat of the contest.
Christian Yelich Home Run Streak
It is a hot start that has not been replicated very often. In fact, Yelich’s accomplishment makes him just the sixth player in Major League Baseball history to post four home runs in the first four games of the season. He joins the exclusive club including Trevor Story who did so back in 2016, Chris Davis (2013), Nelson Cruz (2011), Mark McGwire (1998), and Willie Mays (1971). While that alone is outstanding, Yelich has taken things to even newer heights as the only defending MVP to do so and the first Milwaukee Brewer to have accomplished such a feat.
Big 2019 Projections
If history has any say in what will follow Yelich’s hot start, it will be one for the ages. Those who have matched Yelich’s four home run in four games started have amassed three All-Star appearances, two Silver Slugger awards, and a pair of MVP honors in the seasons that the feat was accomplished.
Yelich’s current trends have also lent to the strong start as the lefty bat has gone up against a primarily right-handed slate of pitchers to start the season. Last year alone, Yelich put up a mark of .321 against right-handed pitching. Yelich drew 52 walks and came away with 77 RBI last season against right-handed pitchers while capturing 129 total hits and 26 home runs against the same crop of hurlers.
Yelich and the Brewers will have a chance to increase his numbers substantially when they face the Cincinnati Reds beginning Monday, April 1. It will be another conducive set up for Yelich as the lefty struck for a .482 batting average and seven home runs against the Reds last season. He will likely be facing an all right-handed starting rotation.
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