Brewers place OF Christian Yelich on 10-day IL

The team announced on Tuesday afternoon that outfielder Christian Yelich would be taking a trip to the injured list for the first time this season with a lower back strain. 

The move was made retroactive to April 13, when Yelich left Friday’s game against the Baltimore Orioles in the second inning with lower back discomfort.

At first, the injury was said to be a day-to-day timetable, but once Yelich missed the last three games, it became more and more clear of his fate and where he stood in terms of entering the lineup again.

Per manager Pat Murphy, Yelich hadn’t really shown much if any sign of improvement since exiting the game on Friday. The Brewers had recalled Joey Wiemer on Sunday, and now with Yelich on the 10-day, they needed to fill that empty roster spot.

“It’s all about the player, how the player feels,” Murphy said via the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. “It crushes us; it’s a big blow. But first and foremost, it’s the player.

“He’s not feeling right, he’s been through this before, and we’ve got to get him right.”

The earliest Yelich could return to the lineup is April 23 in the series against the Pittsburgh Pirates. With the Brewers winning two out of the four games they’ve been without Yelich, they’ve been looking to other players in the lineup like Jackson Chourio and William Contreras to provide an offensive boost.

In response, the team has recalled infielder/outfielder Owen Miller from Triple-A Nashville to take Yelich’s spot on the roster for the time being.

Yelich was on a hot start to the 2024 season, batting .333 with five home runs, 11 driven in, 0.8 WAR and an OPS of 1.166 in just 11 games. Thanks in part to his electric offensive production, the Brewers are entering Tuesday’s contest ranked second in the majors in batting average, on-base percentage, runs per game and slugging percentage. 

There’s been something about this Brewers offense that’s different, but in a very good way.

Last season, Brewers fans were able to see Yelich gradually return to the Yelich we all remember, batting .291 with an OPS of .855. The 2018 NL MVP has been on the IL in previous seasons for back issues, so it was only just a matter of time before we saw the issue pop up once again.

Brewers recall Owen Miller from Triple-A Nashville

Miller, 27, played in 90 games for Milwaukee last season where he batted .261 with an OBP of .303, five homers, 27 driven in and 13 steals. With the Nashville Sounds, he played 14 games, batting .353 and an on-base percentage of .414.