Part of the Los Angeles Dodgers sweeping the Milwaukee Brewers in the National League Championship Series was keeping Christian Yelich in check as part of their overall strong pitching performances.
The 2018 NL MVP is one of the leaders on an inexperienced Brewers team that entered 2025 as the fifth-youngest team on Opening Day. Yelich had a solid year for the Brewers, batting .264/.343/.452 with 21 doubles, 29 home runs, 103 RBI and a 121 wRC+.
“He’s one of my favorites. He’s a captain himself over there. I know not many people talk about him being a captain or anything like that,” Miguel Rojas said.
“He’s like an old veteran player that kind of helps everybody to kind of run the clubhouse and the team.”
Rojas knows the kind of player and leader Yelich is from their time as teammates on the Miami Marlins, as well as from conversations with Jackson Chourio. Rojas has a close relationship with Chourio because they are both from Venezuela and share the same agent.
“When we played together in Miami, he’s not a guy who is going to talk a lot, but he’s going to show you through preparation and work ethic,” Rojas recalled.
“And I’m happy for him because he’s getting the opportunity to be on this stage. He always showed me he was a guy that you can follow because he’s a great leader.”
Pat Murphy defended Christian Yelich’s slump
Yelich did not make a substantial impact in the playoffs as he hit a lowly .182/.289/.212. Crucially, the team leader in RBI didn’t get one in the postseason and finished with just one extra-base hit.
Yelich went 1-for-17 and struck out seven times in the NLCS.
“Yeli’s a 12-year veteran. He knows how to play this game,” Brewers manager Pat Murphy said. “He’s getting pitched really, really tough. They’re very aware of his abilities. Hit 29 homers this year, drove in over 100 runs.
“That’s a really small sample size. I know it’s critical because it’s now, but I’m not worried that Yeli won’t respond.”
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