Milwaukee Brewers stud Christian Yelich is off to a scorching start in 2019. Part of that may have to do with his outrageous success against one particular division rival.
It should come as a surprise to no one that the reigning MVP should continue to prove their worth in the season following their win. Milwaukee Brewers outfielder Christian Yelich has been no exception.
So far this season, Yelich has compiled a strong stat line with a .357/.446/.800 slash, nine home runs, 25 RBI, 18 runs, 3 stolen bases, and 56 total bases.
Pretty darn impressive right? Well, what if I told you that a lot of his success – and eight of his home runs – came against one opponent? And you can bet that Yelich is thrilled as to who that opponent is.
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Opening weekend saw the Brewers play host to the divisional rival St. Louis Cardinals. They won three of the four games they played. During that series, Yelich hit a home run in four consecutive games; tying a Major League record for most consecutive games with a home run hit to start the season.
The most recent recipient of such an honor was Trevor Story in 2016.
In just a four-game span, he had recorded hits in half of his 12 at-bats. He was on base in two-thirds of his plate appearances and had only struck out once.
Fast forward to now: The Cardinals have returned to Miller Park for the second time in the first month of the season.
Yelich since his series against the Cardinals had gone pretty cold. In a 12-game span, he had 14 hits, one home run, seven RBI, struck out 10 times, and watched his slash line fall to .328/.425/.639 ahead of their second hosting of the Cardinals.
There must be some sort of energy Yelich gets playing against the Cardinals because what did he do in the first game of the series? Well…:
Christian Yelich took the Cardinals out of the park THREE TIMES tonight 😳 pic.twitter.com/uNKvJgS5hg
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) April 16, 2019
It was pointed out by Adam McCalvy, the Brewers beat writer for MLB.com, that Yelich wanted extra batting practice before game time after going hitless in his previous two games:
After back-to-back hitless games in L.A., Christian Yelich was out on the field at 2:30 pm for one-on-one work with Brewers hitting coach Andy Haines. pic.twitter.com/SOj7FtnS4F
— Adam McCalvy (@AdamMcCalvy) April 15, 2019
Clearly, the lesson here is practice, practice, practice!
In the two games played so far in the series, Yelich has five hits, four of them went over the fence, and 10 RBI.
Is it safe to say he is the new ‘Cardinal Clipper’?
Lets put it this way, the broadcast crew has clearly run out of ideas on a gameplan for Christian Yelich. Cut4 captured the moment the scouting report was shared:
Bold strategy, let's see if it pays off for the Redbirds today. pic.twitter.com/mt6XcFyHmz
— Cut4 (@Cut4) April 17, 2019
Don’t worry Cardinals fans. You only have to face the Milwaukee Brewers 12 more times after today’s game.