Do you remember when The Fish had arguably the best OF in the Major Leagues? An OF with Christian Yelich in LF, Marcell Ozuna in CF and Giancarlo Stanton in RF. Their ultimate trades didn't work out and made it to my "3 worst trades in Miami Marlins history" article. Now, with another former Marlins OF likely out for the season, so is Christian Yelich. The Milwaukee Brewers star LF is out for the season.
Former Miami Marlins LF Christian Yelich is out for the season.
Christian Yelich never really reached his full potential with the Miami Marlins. He once signed a 7 year/$49.6 million contract extension with The Fish. A team-friendly deal that seemed to guarantee a long-term stay on the team. That of course didn't happen, but to be fair he was never as good as he would become later in Milwaukee.
After a solid debut in 2013, when he batted .288/.370/.396 in 62 games and 240 AB, Yelich finally got a full season of playing time in 2014. In that 2014 season, Yelich batted .284/.362/.402, with 9 home runs and 54 RBI in 144 games and 582 AB. He was worth 3.8 WAR. The counting numbers didn't impress, but the overall production did. In 2015, he followed that up by batting .300/.366/.416, with 7 home runs and 44 RBI in 126 games and 476 AB. A performance worth 3.6 WAR.
Yelich would take a step forward in 2016, when he batted .298/.376/.483, with 21 home runs and 98 RBI in 155 games and 578 AB. That performance was worth an at the time career-best 4.9 WAR. 2017 turned out to be his final season with The Fish, that season Yelich batted .282/.369/.439, with 18 home runs and 81 RBI in 156 games and 602 AB, being worth 3.7 WAR. He was never more than a very good player with The Fish, but he turned into a star after his trade to the Milwaukee Brewers.
Christian Yelich was a contender for the best player in the game in 2018-2019 with Milwaukee. He batted a combined .327/.415/.631 in 277 games and 1063 AB. In 2018, he hit 36 home runs and drove in 110 RBI. Those numbers improved to 44 home runs and 97 RBI in 2019.
Sadly, injuries ruined his career after. Since 2020, he's missed considerable time with injuries and his power basically disappeared. He was finally bouncing back this season, when back surgery ended his season. He ends this season with a .315/.406/.504 batting line in 73 games and 270 AB, with 11 home runs and 42 RBI. He's been worth 2.2 WAR. Let's hope that he'll be healthy next season.