Four games into the regular season and Milwaukee Brewers outfielder Christian Yelich is picking up right where he left off last season. How he might have just had the best weekend ever.
Last season, Milwaukee Brewers outfielder Christian Yelich took home the NL MVP award by bucking current trends in MLB. While most hitters are working on elevating their swings (League average launch angle: 10.9°) in an effort to avoid grounders, Yelich is keeping his relatively leveled (Yelich’s launch angle: 4.7°).
As a result, Yelich ranked 4th in MLB in wRC+ (166), wOBA (.422), and OPS (1.000), behind arguably the best hitters in baseball. Namely, Mike Trout, Mookie Betts, and J.D. Martinez.
This season, Yelich is picking up right where he left off in 2018. With an identical launch angle of 4.7°, the MVP has become only the 6th player in MLB history to hit a home run in each of the teams first four games. Nobody has ever hit a home run in their teams first five games
YELICH WITH THE BOMB!!@ChristianYelich is now the 6th player in MLB history with a HR in each of his team's 1st 4 games of the season 😮
— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) March 31, 2019
(via @fswisconsin) pic.twitter.com/RCcUDlwnZS
More from Call to the Pen
- Philadelphia Phillies, ready for a stretch run, bomb St. Louis Cardinals
- Philadelphia Phillies: The 4 players on the franchise’s Mount Rushmore
- Boston Red Sox fans should be upset over Mookie Betts’ comment
- Analyzing the Boston Red Sox trade for Dave Henderson and Spike Owen
- 2023 MLB postseason likely to have a strange look without Yankees, Red Sox, Cardinals
That’s not the end of it either. With the Brewers trailing the St. Louis Cardinals in the 9th inning and runners on the corners, Yelich stepped up to face off against flamethrower Jordan Hicks.
After taking Hicks’ first two pitches for balls, Yelich hit a 102 MPH Hicks sinker to left sending home both the tying and winning runs. The Brewers won the game by a score of 5-4.
Suddenly, Monday’s affair against the Cincinnati Reds at 6:40 EST becomes must-see-TV as Yelich will try to become the only player in MLB history to homer in each of the first five games of the season.
Pitching for the Reds, Tanner Roark will face off against the Milwaukee Brewers and Christian Yelich. To accomplish this feat, Yelich will need to conquer two monsters at once since, In 39 AB, he has never hit a homer against Roark, while slugging just .308.