American Family Field (MILWAUKEE) – On September 26, during a team meeting before the Brewers’ penultimate game in their record 103-win regular season, outfielder Christian Yelich was officially named the first team captain in franchise history.
The honor, though meaningful, was something of a formality. The “C” on his uniform represents what has been obvious for years to any player who has walked through the Milwaukee clubhouse.
“I could talk for an hour about him,” Brewers shortstop Sal Frelick told me, “but he was the captain before he got the ‘C’. We all know that.”
“I don’t think anybody’s going to question that,” added football player Joey Ortiz.
“We go through it,” infielder David Hamilton told me. “Head honcho.”
Christian Yelich after the Brewers won the NLCS. (Photo by Keith Birmingham/MediaNews Group/Pasadena Star-News via Getty Images)
In many ways, Yelich’s teammates credit him with building the culture that has this Milwaukee team in position to do what no team in Brewers history has done before, now four wins away from winning the franchise’s first World Series championship.
Before Frelick was a great leader, he already witnessed Yelich’s influence firsthand. Drafted in the first round in 2021, Frelick couldn’t believe the way Yelich decided to take him under his wing.
“My first big league camp, before I was in the big leagues, he’s taking me through new things,” Frelick recalled. “I think, ‘This guy won an MVP, why is he telling me how tight to cut the third base bag when I’m running home from second?’ That’s because he just knows how to play the game. He cares. He knows that’s how baseball games are won. And he knows if people hear what’s coming from him, they’re going to tell other guys and show how important it is.”
Before Yelich arrived in 2018 and was named MVP in his first season with the team, the Brewers had missed the playoffs six straight seasons.
Since Yelich’s arrival, they have won the division six times and made the playoffs eight times in the last nine years.
“I think the culture that’s been built here has been on him,” Frelick said, “on his back.”
SOMETIMES, A LOT Yelich’s impact came with his play. He hit 36 home runs in 2018, 44 more in 2019, then committed his future to the franchise in 2020 when he signed a club-record nine-year, $215 million extension with Milwaukee that cemented his place as a Brewer for life.
He has spent every season since, healthy or not, trying to instill the values and attention to detail that would build the clubhouse’s foundation for success and eventually lead to the franchise’s first trip to the World Series since 1982.
“I think the last three years, we have the best record in baseball,” Brewers manager Pat Murphy said. “Christian Yelich is at the helm of it all, whether he’s hurt or not hurt or whatever. He’s leading these young guys that nobody expected. Nobody picked us to win the division once in those three years, and he’s in the middle of it all, helping these young players believe in themselves.”
Brewers manager Pat Murphy stands next to team captain Christian Yelich. (Photo by Mary DeCicco/MLB Photos via Getty Images)
Sometimes, it’s as simple as trying to get them into a better mindset.
“This last year, when I was down, he helped me a lot just with the mental side of things, realizing that every day is a new day,” Ortiz told me. “Just try not to dwell on the past and keep moving forward.”
This October, Yelich is practicing what he preached.
This season, he fell below league average for the first time in his career. He is no longer the attacking force he once was, before age and back problems turned him from a superstar to more of a fill-in, but his manager knows how important he is to the team.
So Murphy stuck with him as his designated hitter for each of the Brewers’ four games in the National League Division Series against the Padres. Yelich rewarded Murphy’s faith by recording a hit in every game.
“He’s been through a lot,” outfielder Garrett Mitchell told me. “He’s had a long and successful career, first of all, but he’s also worked through ups and downs. He’s someone who’s seen it all, someone you can easily talk to and is willing to sit down for any length of time and just sit and talk. When you have a leader who’s willing to do whatever it takes to not only point out the wrong, but also help you learn the right.” incredible.”
And when the Brewers decided to play left-handed masher Andrew Vaughn over Yelich in Game 1 of the National League Championship Series against ace Tarik Skubal, despite Yelich’s success to start October, the skipper was undaunted.
He returned to the lineup a day later and followed Jake Bauers’ iconic 12-pitch walk against Yoshinobu Yamamoto with a go-ahead, two-run shot that knocked the reigning World Series MVP out of the game in the third inning.
“This guy won an MVP — you could argue he should have won two — and just around the club, you’d never know it,” Bauers told me. “He’s extremely humble. He doesn’t care about Christian Yelich; he cares about the Milwaukee Brewers, and I think that really sets the tone for the rest of the roster.”
“Everybody looks up to him,” Vaughn added. “If he has something to say, you’re going to listen to it. I think he’s the part of this team that holds everyone together.”
YELICH Arrived inside Milwaukee three years before Ryan Braun left. The two franchise icons were both part of the 2018 team that fell a game short of going to the World Series.
Over the next decade, Yelich claims he didn’t make a conscious decision to take on more of a leadership role.
“It’s just doing what you have to do to win and be successful,” Yelich told me. “We’ve got a lot of young players and being a guy that’s been around a while and seen a lot of different things in the game and experienced a lot of things that they’re probably going through for the first time, you remember what it was like to be at that point in your career. If you can lend a helping hand or guide someone through those times or wish you’d known something like that back then.”
Brewers great Ryan Braun with Christian Yelich in 2018. (Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images)
“It’s more like he’s an open book,” Mitchell explained. “If you have a question that you want an answer to, he’s got it. With me, it’s just learning how to be professional. How do you show up every day and do the things that you do? I think that comes out in a lot of different ways, but the fact that he’s willing to do anything to help a guy learn, if it’s, ‘Hey, you didn’t show up, or you showed up, here, at that time, at that time, at that time,’ “Hey, that’s how you do your job in the cage,” it shows in a lot of ways, but he’s been one of my favorite teammates.
Yelich and Brandon Woodruff are the only players left from that 2018 Brewers team that came so close to ending their World Series drought. Eight years later, the NL champions are reaping the rewards of the wisdom of their older players.
“We’ve seen it all together,” Woodruff said. “He means a ton to the city and the organization. His voice carries a lot of weight. He is our franchise player. He just means a ton to guys. He goes about his days and plays the game the right way, that’s why guys respect him so much.”
Four Brewers MVPs – Christian Yelich, Rollie Fingers, Robin Yount and Ryan Braun. (Photo by Larry Radloff/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
At 34, Yelich is now the oldest player on a young Brewers squad known for his ability to pressure opponents with contact and speed. He’s no longer pitching like he did in 2019, when he stole 30 bases, led the majors with a 1.100 OPS and had an argument to win MVP for a second straight season, but his impact remains.
“He’s much more important to this process than anyone knows,” Murphy said.
Along with Aaron Judge of the Yankees and Salvador Perez of the Royals, Yelich is now one of three active players with the title of captain. Before accepting the honor, he asked permission of Hall of Famer Robin Yount, who was a vital part of the last Brewers team to reach a World Series.
Now, Yelich is trying to help his team do what no Brewers team has done before, whether through his play, his perception or both.
“There’s a lot that goes on behind the scenes with Yeli that I don’t think a lot of people get to see,” Ortiz told me. “So I’m glad he got the ‘C’ on his chest.”
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