{"id":79059,"date":"2024-07-05T23:33:43","date_gmt":"2024-07-06T03:33:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/?p=79059"},"modified":"2024-07-05T23:33:43","modified_gmt":"2024-07-06T03:33:43","slug":"yelich-contreras-leading-brewers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2024\/07\/05\/yelich-contreras-leading-brewers\/","title":{"rendered":"Energized Veteran All-Star Tandem Continues To Lead Brewers"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The energized veteran All-Star tandem of <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2024\/05\/09\/revisiting-christian-yelich-trade-six-years\/\" target=\"_self\">Christian Yelich<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2024\/05\/12\/contreras-yelich-early-mvp-candidates\/\" target=\"_self\">William Contreras<\/a> continues to lead the first-place Milwaukee Brewers.<\/p>\n<p>With the valuable contributions of the high-powered duo, the Brewers remain on top of the National League Central Division standings with a 52-36 overall record (.591 winning percentage). Yelich and Contreras are each slated to start for the National League in the Major League Baseball All-Star Game in Arlington, Texas on July 16.<\/p>\n<p>It is the eighth time in franchise history, and the first time since 2014, in which the Brewers have had multiple starters in the Midsummer Classic.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/y\/yelicch01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-07-05_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Christian Yelich<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/c\/contrwi02.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-07-05_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">William Contreras<\/a> are headed to the All-Star game! They reacted after being selected as All-Star starters ?<a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/SophiaMinnaert?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@SophiaMinnaert<\/a> | <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/ThisIsMyCrew?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#ThisIsMyCrew<\/a> | <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/Brewers?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#Brewers<\/a> <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/BVNeTX79RP\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/BVNeTX79RP<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Bally Sports Wisconsin (@BallySportWI) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/BallySportWI\/status\/1808653667404558564?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">July 4, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<h2>Energized Veteran All-Star Duo Leading Brewers<\/h2>\n<h3>Yelich To Play In Midsummer Classic For Third Time<\/h3>\n<p>Yelich, 32, signed a nine-year $215 million contract in 2020 and has returned to the high-caliber outfielder of yesteryear that earned him NL Most Valuable Player honors in 2018, his first year in Milwaukee after being <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2024\/05\/09\/revisiting-christian-yelich-trade-six-years\/\" target=\"_self\">traded<\/a>. This will be the third All-Star appearance of his 12-year career.<\/p>\n<p>As the team\u2019s highest-paid player and half of the energized veteran All-Star tandem, he has set the tone. Currently, he maintains a rejuvenated, disciplined .329 batting average with 77 hits, 37 RBI, 38 runs scored, nine home runs, and a .921 OPS. It&#8217;s been an impressive feat considering he missed 30 games with an early-season lower back strain. Fittingly, the left-handed power-hitting Yelich will be making his third All-Star appearance.<\/p>\n<p>It&#8217;s been a history-making year for the Brewers outfielder. He became the 49th player in MLB history to amass 300 doubles, 200 home runs, and 200 stolen bases, <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2024\/04\/08\/hank-aaron-mlb-home-run-record-715\/\" target=\"_self\">joining<\/a> the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2024\/06\/19\/willie-mays-best-moments\/\" target=\"_self\">elite<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2024\/04\/05\/brewers-fast-start\/\" target=\"_self\">company<\/a> of players such as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/a\/aaronha01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-07-05_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Hank Aaron<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/m\/mayswi01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-07-05_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Willie Mays<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/y\/yountro01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-07-05_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Robin Yount<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/m\/molitpa01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-07-05_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Paul Molitor<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/s\/sheffga01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-07-05_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Gary Sheffield<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/search\/search.fcgi?pid=grissma02,grisso005mar&amp;search=Marquis+Grissom&amp;utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-07-05_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Marquis Grissom<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/w\/whitede03.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-07-05_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Devon White<\/a>, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/c\/camermi01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-07-05_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Mike Cameron<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Yelich has been a force over the last seven games. Accordingly, he has gone a combined 10-for-28 with six runs scored with a .357 batting average, two homers, three RBI, three stolen bases, and a .714 slugging percentage.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Christian Yelich is an All-Star Game starter! <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/Qz27CSjLus\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/Qz27CSjLus<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Christian Yelich Hits Tracker (@YelichHits) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/YelichHits\/status\/1808651147663790278?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">July 3, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<h3>Contreras Becomes Two-Time All-Star<\/h3>\n<p>Contreras, 26, has lived up to his reputation as one of the premier <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2024\/05\/12\/contreras-yelich-early-mvp-candidates\/\" target=\"_self\">catchers<\/a> in baseball. The former World Series champion has been a warrior this year, playing in 85 games. He has been one of the team&#8217;s top offensive <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2024\/04\/30\/william-contreras-proving-leader-brewers\/\" target=\"_self\">leaders<\/a> and a reliable, strong defensive presence behind the plate. Contreras sports a .298 batting average with a team-high 104 hits, 59 runs scored, a team-best 20 doubles, 10 homers, 51 RBI, and an .805 OPS. He leads all NL catchers in batting average and RBI.<\/p>\n<p>As a result, Contreras will be making the second All-Star appearance (and first start) of his five-year career. During the last seven games, he has gone a combined 11-for-30 with a .367 batting average and .500 slugging percentage.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">The <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Brewers?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@Brewers<\/a>\u2019 star catcher is headed to his second <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/AllStarGame?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#AllStarGame<\/a>! William Contreras is voted in as the NL\u2019s backstop. <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/FLwxSyKSnU\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/FLwxSyKSnU<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 MLB (@MLB) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/MLB\/status\/1808643302192992622?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">July 3, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<h3>Energized All-Star Tandem Continues Flourish<\/h3>\n<p>Yelich and Contreras have been integral contributors for the Brewers, who are coming off a series split with the Colorado Rockies.<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">Brewers first-year manager <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/managers\/murphpa99.shtml\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Pat Murphy<\/a> is quick to point out that the duo&#8217;s leadership has been invaluable. \u201cThose are the two pillars,&#8221; said Murphy in an interview with the Milwaukee Journal&#8217;s Curt Hogg. \u201cTheir value to the team goes without saying. It\u2019s incredible.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>With the high-energy duo leading the way for a young, hungry Brewers team, the sky appears to be the limit. It remains to be seen if the team&#8217;s statement-making first-half momentum can contribute to a memorable second-half finish.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Photo Credit: \u00a9 Benny Sieu-USA TODAY Sports<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The energized veteran All-Star tandem of Christian Yelich and William Contreras continues to lead the first-place Milwaukee Brewers. With the valuable contributions of the high-powered duo, the Brewers remain on top of the National League Central Division standings with a 52-36 overall record (.591 winning percentage). Yelich and Contreras are each slated to start for [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5106,"featured_media":79156,"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":[404,6038,1840,2252,4392,4998,1729,3277,5896,1722],"class_list":["post-79059","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-brewers","category-mlb","tag-christian-yelich","tag-devon-white","tag-gary-sheffield","tag-hank-aaron","tag-marquis-grissom","tag-mike-cameron","tag-paul-molitor","tag-robin-yount","tag-william-contreras","tag-willie-mays"],"modified_by":"Lewis Masella, Site Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79059","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=79059"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79059\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/79156"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=79059"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=79059"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=79059"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}