What Christian Yelich Just Pulled Off Is Absolutely Unreal...

When you talk about the 2026 World Series champion, Milwaukee Brewers, you cannot go without saying that the MVP of 2018, Christian Yelich, started it all in what was the most impactful trade in Brewers franchise history has turned into the first ring in Brewers franchise history. Christian Yelich leading the way through the high seasons, through the low seasons, and through this season of 2026. The big reason why the Brewers got to this hot stretch of playoff baseball, and I've been able to finish the job. with the World Series ring. I welcome you to this episode of Brewers Digest. I'm your host, Taylor Breidel, and I got you covered on everything you need to know about the Milwaukee Brewers. I'm sure at this point in time, you know that the Brewers are your 2026 World Series champions, which would be a sentence that I will never be sick of saying. But how did they get to the stage? How did they go from a mediocre team year after year after year, not able to find any success, to turning it around so quick on a dime, dominant success year after year, and getting the job done? Well, that is because of the man, Christian Yelich, who was able to hold up the trophy yesterday after the Milwaukee Brewers won the World Series. What a shot there from Tropicana Field after the Brewers won the series in five games. We take this all the way back to January of 2018 when the Milwaukee Brewers traded away multiple names and multiple top prospects for one guy. Out of the Miami Marlins team, outfielder Christian Yelich, who was a young kid, a skinnier kid back then than he is now. He's only five years in Miami. He's now spent nine years in Milwaukee. This trade is what has absolutely changed the history of the Milwaukee Brewers. The official release, the Brewers post on X, which was called Twitter at the time, January 25th, 2018, 5.15 p.m. from Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Says the Brewers have acquired outfielder Christian Yelich from Miami in exchange for Luis Brinson, Monte Harrison, Eison Diaz, and Jordan Yamamoto. There are some big names in this trade package. Luis Brinson, the top prospect for the Brewers, a highly touted outfielder. The Yamamoto, a high name as well. And the other two, Harrison and Diaz. This was a big... Swing for the Milwaukee Brewers, and a lot of people at the time were kind of like, what are you doing, Brewers? Why are you dumping all these guys for just one kid? We know he's, you know, had a solid time in Miami, but this is not an MVP type of player. Well, Christian Yelich would spoil all of that talk and win the MVP in his first season with the Milwaukee Brewers in 2018. What was a magical season that has started this absolute unreal stretch? There's Christian Yelich, 2018 NL MVP, also came very close in the year 2019. We're looking at this 2018 season. And when he was first place in MVP, I mean, holy crap. If you are all the way to the right on these graphs, that means you are at the top of the league. He's in like the top one percentile of nearly all of these stats. You look at the averages as well. A .326 batting average, a .402 on base percentage, and a .598 slug. That earned him an OPS of exactly a thousand. A 2018 season where the Brewers won the NL Central for the first time since 2011 when they were able to reach the NLCS that year before unfortunately falling to the St. St. Louis Cardinals, the Brewers in this 2018 season had to win a game. Game 163 against the Chicago Cubs in which Christian Yelich was extremely impactful to win that game 163 that that led them to an NLDS appearance where they swept the Colorado Rockies. Christian Yelich with a home run in that series off of funny enough now Brewer Antonio Sensatella and then the Brewers got to that game seven against the Los Angeles Dodgers where Yelich hit a lead off home run in the top of the first inning but would not score again and it was a gut punch. For the franchise of the Milwaukee Brewers, but it showed so much promise on what was to come again that season for Christian Yelich in 2018 earned him the MVP and easily I mean led the league and nearly every statistic that you could that year. It was an incredible season in his first year in Milwaukee. We now take it. To 2019 and what was arguably a bigger season for Christian Yelich, a better season for his numbers right here. You can see it year by year and his career regular season totals. But looking at this 2019 season, we will get into why it was only 130 games. But you look at the numbers right here. I mean, 44 homers. So he out homered his 2018 numbers. The RBI is a little bit lower. And that's because he moved up in the order a little bit. He drew more walks. He had a higher batting average, higher on base percentage, higher slug and a whole 100 more points in his OPS. So Christian Yelich absolutely exploded in 2019 performance-wise after having what we thought would be the best season of his career in 2018. But we know the reason why that season ended. Christian Yelich in what was kind of a, you know, not an unnecessary game because the Brewers were a wildcard team that year, and every game in September mattered. But late in that season, in September, Christian Yelich, an inside slider against his former team, the Miami Marlins, swung at a pitch. Hit him in the kneecap, broke his kneecap, and that would end his season. It was very tough scenes for Milwaukee. The Brewers would go to the playoffs against the Nats. Trent Grisham would not be able to field a baseball in right field where Christian Yelich typically would be playing. And we know how that whole story unfolded. A very tough scene for Christian Yelich. But he's had his bounce back. Again, we've talked about this 2019 season. We talked about how it was so strong. But you look at the career as a whole. 2020, a really low year. COVID season. Lots of players not performing well. Christian Yelich, a low light of his career, trying to see if he could come back from that knee injury. Some career low numbers right there, but able to bounce it back just a little bit. 2021, 2022, 2023. 2024, I mean, just started to pick it up and up and up and really find a way to bounce back. We saw some incredible moments in between those seasons. Christian Yelich had three cycles, which is tied for the most in MLB history. He had two within one season when he was in those MVP level seasons in those 2018 and 2019 ranges. And then this third cycle when he's really starting to figure things out, all coming against the Cincinnati Reds, which is truly an incredible stat within its own. You knew Christian Yelich was your guy through the highs and through the lows. He's dealt with all those back injuries as well, but he still always found a way to come back and come back and be impactful for the Milwaukee Brewers. Christian Yelich knew where the Brewers were as a team. When you go to the 2024 season, he knew they were close. He spoke on it right here saying we aren't that far, not as far as it seems. I still believe that one day that's going to be us out there. That was Christian Yelich after the 4-0 series sweep in the 2025 NLCS, standing at his locker in what was his last game of the 2024 season. He also talked about, he said, I know I need to be better in the playoffs. I have not come through in the playoffs. That was his big tax that a lot of people put on him. He can't get an RBI in the playoffs. He's not showing up in the playoffs. Lots of things on Yelich, on Yelich, on Yelich. Well, he knew that 2026 could be the most important season of his life, and he absolutely proved it. Now, were the numbers really there like other seasons? No, they were not. But Christian Yelich was able to be there and be a huge piece for the Milwaukee Brewers. Again, he's not in the field anymore because of the back issues. be the most attractive, but just being there, such a big important piece for all the guys. That is what Yelich showed, and he started off the season with a bang, blasting this home run to right field against the Chicago White Sox on opening day in that home opener series against Chicago. Christian Yelich showed a lot of emotion, and it almost felt like this season was special from that point, and they are playing a Chicago White Sox team that had not proved that they were a playoff-level team because it was early, coming off a 100-something loss season, but But Yelich just showed so much emotion. You saw that he was just so dialed in, and you maybe knew something special was going to happen. I don't know if you could have predicted a World Series out of one swing on opening week against the White Sox, but hey, if you did, I got to give you your flowers. Later in the season, with all of his impact, Christian Yelich, right before the playoffs, was named captain, the official captain of the Milwaukee Brewers, the only captain of Milwaukee Brewers. This is something that not even Robin Yount got, not even Paul Molitor got. No one had gotten this, only Christian Yelich. He asked for Robin Yount's blessing as well. In which he got to get that C patch and represent the Milwaukee Brewers. And the reason he gets a patch with that C is because of his impact, because of his good seasons, what he does for the community. Everything that makes him a Milwaukee Brewer and he knows the impact on the fans. Christian Yellich says, you understand that your performance as a team directly impacts the happiness of the people in the state and in the city and you don't take that for granted. This was Christian Yellich before the NLCS started this year. He knew something was special. He knew the fans wanted it. They were hungry. They saw playoff losses in 2018, 19, 20, 21, 23, 24. And 25, there was going to be one year where they were going to get over the hump and it was finally this year. Christian Yelich gets his first World Series of his career, earns the Brewers their first World Series of their franchise. And this man has just been the center of all of this happening. That trade truly turned around a franchise. Some very neat shots that show Christian Yelich and just what he means to this team. What do you mean to the community? There's a photo of him holding up the newspaper that their World Series champs looking at the thousands of Brewers fans that showed up to Tropicana Field You can just tell how much this man means to the city of Milwaukee, to the state of Wisconsin, to the organization of the Milwaukee Brewers, to the community. I mean, you can just point in so many directions. A huge impact player. This photo that I'm sharing right here is one that we have wanted to see ever since he won that first MVP for the Milwaukee Brewers. A truly incredible career. An MVP, multiple batting titles, multiple All-Stars, multiple Silver Sluggers, a gold glove, now a World Series championship. A Christian Yelich statue, could that possibly be in the future? I don't know, that might be a little crazy. But you take a look at the Christian Yelich era right here and it makes you feel like maybe it's not so crazy. In 2018, they won the NL Central and lost in the CS as I touched on. They didn't win the division in 19 or 20, but still found ways to make the playoffs. 2021, division champ. 24, 25, all division champs. 2026, also a division champ, but you got the cherry on top with a World Series championship. Christian Yelich has brought the dominant stretch of Milwaukee Brewers baseball. It's not a one-man show, but when you see those numbers from when one player joins the team, that's how you know that it is so impactful. But you cannot do any of this without a best friend by your side. And we know, Bob Uecker, what he meant to the Milwaukee Brewers, what he means to the Milwaukee Brewers right now. These Brewers were doing it for Ueck. They were doing it for all of the past and present Brewers fans, Brewers workers, commentators. I mean, everybody. And Christian Yelich had a guy right by his side. He was one of, if not Ueck's, best friend on the team. These two guys were insanely close from when Christian Yelich got there to 2018 all the way to his passing. I mean, there's tons of photos. Christian Yelich even had his bat look or be dedicated to Bob Uecker with the team. And it's like, look at that. The full screen right here, Christian Yelich, when it was the players weekend and you can have the custom bats, he customized his towards Ueck. And it just shows the impact that Ueck had on this franchise and the impact of the friendship that these two held. What Christian Yelich has done to the franchise in Milwaukee, it is going to be hard to top. And that's going to ask me. Or have me ask you the big question right here. Yelich is still here for a good while. This is not a retirement season. It's just such a cherry on top, a big accomplishment in a career. But I want to ask you guys this question. Christian Yelich is a top what Milwaukee brewer of all time? I guess it says brewers. We're going to ignore that there's an S there. But Christian Yelich is a top what Milwaukee brewer of all time? Is he top 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, or 10? When I really think of the Milwaukee Brewers, I mean... Yelich is up there and when you think about this question, this could be answered differently when he fully goes down the road of his career because Yelich, again, he's not retiring. He has many more years. He signed that big nine-year deal with the Brewers, but I say when I look at the best Milwaukee Brewers of all time, it's hard to put someone above Robin Yount at number one. And I think you probably got to put Paul Molitor at two. And then I think a lot from there, a lot of people have some different lists on where all of these guys sit. And I'm curious what you guys think, what you guys have for this. Behind Paul Molitor, do you have a Ryan Braun? That's a guy that spent his whole career with the Brewers. That might be a guy that is one spot above Yelich. But by the time Yelich retires, I think Yelich could pass Braun. You also have Cecil Cooper, one of the most underrated players in MLB history, in my opinion. But right now, I would put Yelich. Four? Is that crazy to say? I think we got to put him four. There's other big names that the Brewers have had, Hall of Famers that have come through, like a Rollie Fingers, but he wasn't there for too long. You go way, way back. You go to a George Scott who just won Gold Glove every single year. Guys that have done so much for the franchise, which is why this World Series is so big, because this World Series is not just for this 2026 team. It is for the franchise of the Milwaukee Brewers. So the question, I'm going to put him at four. Does he get a statue? I'm not even going to go that far in advance. Does he get a number retired? I don't know. I think the big part is he has accomplished an MVP, the Silver Sluggers, the batting titles, Gold Glove, all this stuff, and now a World Series ring. He's done all of this, and he still has many more years to come with the Brewers to climb in all the top ranks in franchise history. It's going to be hard to surpass Rockin' Robin, who was on that team that made the World Series in 1982. It's going to be hard to pass the Igniter. But outside of those two, if Christian Yelich goes his whole rest of his career with the Milwaukee Brewers, does he surpass Braun? These would be questions that are fun ones to debate because you're just debating Brewer legend against Brewer legend. I think Christian Yelich might be as high as four right now or definitely in that four spot by the time that he retires. But there's other legends, Prince Fielder, Cecil Cooper, all these guys that passed through Milwaukee. But Christian Yelich. Big reason why the Brewers got all the way to the stage. That's all I got for this episode of Brewers Digest. You guys let me know your thoughts on the World Series, your thoughts on Yelich, how impactful he is to the franchise. Actually, this Brew Crew shirt is Yelich, funny enough. I didn't even do that on purpose, but that shows the impact, if I could say the least about that. So that's all I got, again, for Brewers Digest. I mean, I'm just going to be so excited to keep coming back on here and talking about the Brewers and this magical 2026 season. But it's not like this is the last year of baseball. Hopefully we're going to be talking a lot about the Brewers and everything we need to do in the offseason and all the guys that are going to be coming up in the farm system to hopefully look at a chance to repeat in 2027. But for now, it's only October 29th. Soak this World Series in for so, so long. Let me know. Are you going to be at the parade in Milwaukee? It should be pretty unreal, but signing off and as always, go brew crew.