{"id":70779,"date":"2024-04-18T09:00:10","date_gmt":"2024-04-18T13:00:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/?p=70779"},"modified":"2024-04-18T00:25:27","modified_gmt":"2024-04-18T04:25:27","slug":"brewers-face-critical-challenge-yelich","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2024\/04\/18\/brewers-face-critical-challenge-yelich\/","title":{"rendered":"Brewers Face Critical Challenge As Star Placed On Injured List"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The Milwaukee Brewers face a critical challenge moving forward as star outfielder <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/y\/yelicch01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-04-18_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Christian Yelich<\/a> was placed on the 10-day injured list Tuesday. The former 2018 NL MVP was moved to the IL due to a lower back strain, retroactive to April 13. In a corresponding move, utility player <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/m\/milleow01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-04-18_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Owen Miller<\/a> was recalled from Triple A-Nashville.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">OF Christian Yelich placed on the 10-day injured list with a low back strain, retroactive to April 13.<\/p>\n<p>INF\/OF Owen Miller recalled from Triple-A Nashville. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/XNzjTEaE9Q\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/XNzjTEaE9Q<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Milwaukee Brewers (@Brewers) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Brewers\/status\/1780344073745797137?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">April 16, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<h2>Brewers Face Critical Challenge Without Yelich<\/h2>\n<p>Yelich, 32, was injured in Milwaukee&#8217;s 11-1 road victory over the Baltimore Orioles on April 12. He delivered a first-inning single before removing himself before the bottom of the second with back discomfort. The Brewers are 2-3 since his departure.\u00a0 Despite their first series loss to the San Diego Padres, the team maintains an NL Central Division-leading 11-6 overall record.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">&#8220;It&#8217;s frustrating because a lot of work has gone into feeling good,\u201d said the 6-foot-3, 206-pound Yelich, in an interview with MLB.com&#8217;s Adam McCalvy. \u201cAt the same time, it&#8217;s like, just get healthy and try to pick back up where you left off. I\u2019ve had times where I didn\u2019t think it was bad and it ended up taking a long time, and I\u2019ve had times where I thought it was bad and it ended up being quick. I don\u2019t have answers as far as a timeline. It\u2019s not even really locked up. I don\u2019t know how to describe it. They\u2019re a little different every time. Hopefully, it turns the corner soon, because once it turns the corner, it usually clears up pretty quick.&#8221;<\/p>\n<h3>Rejuvenated Yelich Appeared To Be In All-Star Form<\/h3>\n<p>Yelich signed a hefty, highly publicized nine-year $215 million contract in 2020. At first, early this season, he appeared to have returned to the All-Star outfielder of yesteryear. As the team\u2019s highest-paid player, he set the tone with a rejuvenated, disciplined .333 batting average with 13 hits, 11 RBI, seven runs scored, and team-leading five home runs in 11 games. The left-handed power hitter homered in four of his last eight games to set the pace for the high-powered Brewers hitting attack. His latest was a two-run, first-inning shot in a 7-2 victory over the Cincinnati Reds on April 10.<\/p>\n<p>For first-year Brewers manager <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/managers\/murphpa99.shtml\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Pat Murphy<\/a>, the timing of the injury was devastating. &#8220;It\u2019s awful,\u201d said Murphy, in an interview with Erik Bilstad of 620WTMJ Radio. \u201cHe\u2019s having an MVP-like season right out of the box. It\u2019s devastating to take that guy out of the order. I don\u2019t think (he\u2019ll be out) too long. Yelich has had chronic back issues. He knows how to manage it. We\u2019re giving him a chance to heal.\u201d<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Christian Yelich &#8211; Milwaukee Brewers (5)*<br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/93YkIZ2cpl\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/93YkIZ2cpl<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 MLB HR Videos (@MLBHRVideos) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/MLBHRVideos\/status\/1778221105632661605?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">April 11, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Despite the setback, there is some good news. With Yelich&#8217;s injury list assignment retroactive to April 13, he may be eligible for reinstatement by April 24. But with a history of back problems that have plagued him off and on throughout his career, it may be wishful thinking.<\/p>\n<p>In Yelich&#8217;s glaring absence, a core of talented young players will be asked to step up and fill the temporary void, including such notables as Miller, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/f\/frelisa01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-04-18_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Sal Frelick<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/w\/wiemejo01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-04-18_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Joey Wiemer<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/p\/perkibl01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-04-18_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Blake Perkins<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/c\/chourja01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-04-18_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jackson Chourio<\/a>, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/b\/bauerja01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-04-18_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jake Bauers<\/a>. It will be a daunting task but a necessity if the Brewers are going to weather the storm.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Photo Credit: \u00a9 Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Milwaukee Brewers face a critical challenge moving forward as star outfielder Christian Yelich was placed on the 10-day injured list Tuesday. The former 2018 NL MVP was moved to the IL due to a lower back strain, retroactive to April 13. In a corresponding move, utility player Owen Miller was recalled from Triple A-Nashville. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5106,"featured_media":70829,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[27,1071],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-70779","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-brewers","category-mlb"],"modified_by":"Lewis Masella, Site Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70779","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5106"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=70779"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70779\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/70829"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=70779"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=70779"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=70779"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}