{"id":15230,"date":"2018-10-12T14:23:16","date_gmt":"2018-10-12T18:23:16","guid":{"rendered":"lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/\/?p=15230"},"modified":"2018-10-17T11:50:48","modified_gmt":"2018-10-17T15:50:48","slug":"christian-yelich-postseason","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2018\/10\/12\/christian-yelich-postseason\/","title":{"rendered":"Post-season Run a Long Time Coming for Christian Yelich"},"content":{"rendered":"

The 2018 playoffs were a long time coming for Milwaukee Brewers<\/a> outfielder Christian Yelich<\/strong><\/a>.\u00a0\u00a0Playing in October for the first time, Yelich has come a long\u00a0way since being drafted out of high school.<\/p>\n

Postseason Run A Long Time Coming For Christian Yelich<\/h2>\n

October 2017<\/h3>\n

On October 12, 2017 the New York Yankees<\/a> and Houston Astros<\/a> had already played the first two games of what would be an epic American League Championship Series.\u00a0 At the same time, the Chicago Cubs<\/a> and Los Angeles Dodgers<\/a> started their battle for the National League pennant.<\/p>\n

These two series pitted baseball\u2019s best against each other, putting on a show enjoyed by many.\u00a0 Meanwhile, sitting at home, yearning for a chance to play in October, was a certain Miami Marlins<\/a> outfielder.<\/p>\n

The Marlins drafted Yelich in 2010 out of high school, and he was a consistent performer. In his first five years with Miami, he hit .290 with a .800 OPS, averaging 12 home runs, 52 RBIs, and 14 stolen bases a season.\u00a0 He was solid, but he was not a legitimate star.\u00a0 Miami failed to make the playoffs for his entire tenure with the team.<\/p>\n

On October 2, 2017, ten days prior, Yelich\u2019s fortunes\u00a0changed when Derek Jeter<\/a><\/strong>\u2019s group bought the franchise.\u00a0 The new group\u00a0inherited an organization\u00a0riddled with debt,\u00a0making it\u00a0appear that the team\u00a0needed to trade some of its\u00a0core pieces.\u00a0 Signed to a seven-year, $49.57contract, Yelich was part of the facelift.<\/p>\n

January 2018<\/h3>\n

On January 25, 2018, the Brewers announced that they had acquired Yelich.\u00a0\u00a0After falling short\u00a0in 2017, the Brewers\u00a0aggressively pursued him, knowing that he\u00a0was the difference-maker they needed.\u00a0 Miller Park\u00a0became the change of scenery necessary to spark Yelich\u2019s transformation into an All-Star, an honor he earned for the first time in 2018.<\/p>\n

July 2018<\/h3>\n

After the All-Star Game, Yelich completed his transformation into a star and an MVP candidate. This is evident by his hitting .367 with 25 home runs, 67 RBIs, and a 1.219 OPS in the second half.<\/p>\n

October 2018<\/h3>\n

On October 1, 2018,\u00a0Yelich officially won the National League batting title, hitting .326 for the season.\u00a0He also\u00a0finished second in the league with 36 home runs and 110 RBI.\u00a0\u00a0With these numbers, he\u00a0narrowly missed becoming the first National League Triple Crown winner since Joe Medwick<\/strong><\/a> in 1937.\u00a0 When not driving in runs, he was making sure he was in a position to score runs as well, stealing 20 bases.<\/p>\n

Yelich\u2019s transformation made him both a better slugger and on-base batter, leading the league in slugging percentage at .592 with an on-base percentage of .402, good for a 1.000 OPS. It took 163 games, but Yelich also helped Milwaukee win the National League Central<\/a>, ensuring he would get to play more than just one game in his first postseason experience.<\/p>\n

October 7, 2018, his first\u00a0playoff series ended\u00a0as a successful one.\u00a0 In a small sample size of 14 plate appearances, Yelich had a .571 OBP and 1.196 OPS on route to a three-game sweep of the Colorado Rockies<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Now on October 12, 2018, Yelich prepares to take on the Dodgers, defending National League Champions. With\u00a0six straight division titles and a National League Championship Series appearance in\u00a0four\u00a0of those campaigns, the Dodgers are loaded with\u00a0experience in the limelight.<\/p>\n

The emergence of Yelich in 2018 will be remembered around Milwaukee for years to come. However, leading the charge past the Dodgers to the World Series would cement Yelich\u2019s legacy in Milwaukee’s baseball lore.<\/p>\n

Main Photo:
\nEmbed from Getty Images<\/a>