Christian Yelich Finding Success as Milwaukee Brewers Leadoff Hitter

The Milwaukee Brewers currently find themselves in the midst of an eight-game losing streak–one in which the offense went incredibly cold during a seven-game home stand, including scoring just nine runs in the final six games.

Now, as of late, it has been the pitching that has really struggled, surrendering 37 runs in the last four games, with at least eight runs allowed in each outing. As the old saying goes, when it rains, it pours.

However, if we are looking for something — anything — positive to grasp on to at this point, it’s that Christian Yelich has been finding quite a bit of success since moving to the leadoff spot for the Milwaukee Brewers.

Back on May 11th, many Brewers fans were hoping that Yelich had turned the corner as he continues to try and regain some of his past form. In that game against Cincinnati, Yelich would hit for the cycle, and over an eight-game span, he hit .375 with a 1.210 OPS, along with two home runs, four doubles, and a triple.

Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case. Over the next 23 games following the cycle, Yelich slashed .180/.263/.214–totaling a .476 OPS with no home runs, and once again, looking lost at the plate.

For the season, Yelich is slashing .242/.328/.384, with six home runs and his OPS recently getting over the .700 mark, and his OPS+ slightly above average at 101.

However, for what it’s worth, despite the ups and downs this season, many of Yelich’s underlying numbers, such as exit velocity, hard-hit rate, and barrel percentage, among others, are all above league average, according to Baseball Savant–even if the production isn’t quite there.

Christian Yelich is finding success as the Milwaukee Brewers leadoff hitter

So in an effort to switch things up — and honestly, that may be the biggest reason for the move — in the second game against Philadelphia, manager Craig Counsell would move Yelich to the leadoff spot, where he has found quite a bit of success over the last four games, even if the Brewers continue to lose.

Over his last 19 plate appearances, like a leadoff hitter should, Yelich has been getting on base at a high clip with eight hits, a walk, and an OBP of .474. In total, Yelich is batting .444 with a 1.085 OPS and a home run.

In addition to Yelich finding a bit of a groove, hopefully the rest of the Milwaukee Brewers’ offense is as well. Despite losing the previous two games, the Crew has scored 11 runs on 18 hits–not to mention that Omar Narvaez has returned to the lineup. In his first game back, Narvaez would get on base twice, drawing a walk and getting a hit.

Of course, having said all of that, it needs to be mentioned that this is an incredibly small sample size, and we’ve seen Yelich find success over short periods before–just look at the eight-game stretch mentioned above that culminated with a cycle.

But with the Crew in the middle of an eight-game losing streak, we are currently in search of any sort of positive. Ultimately, only time will tell, but perhaps the Brewers and Yelich found something with him in the leadoff role.