Seeking a spark for his struggling former MVP, Milwaukee Brewers manager Pat Murphy made the tough decision to drop Christian Yelich in the batting order.
In a decision that couldn't have been easy to make, Milwaukee Brewers manager Pat Murphy felt he had no choice but to move Christian Yelich down in this lineup.
Yelich has primarily led off for the Brewers, but he just hasn't been himself this season. There don't seem to be any health issues, something that has haunted him throughout his career, but there's just something off about the former MVP.
In a game where the Brewers put up 11 hits against the Pittsburgh Pirates, Yelich went 0-for-4 with a strikeout.
For reference, Garrett Mitchell was the only other Brewers player without a hit.
Originally, Murphy had Yelich batting seventh in the order. Jake Bauers was a late scratch from the lineup, so that moved the designated hitter up to fifth, but it's still alarming to even see him in this position.
Murphy is doing what he can to help Yelich
In an effort to take some of the pressure off his DH, Murphy believes the best decision for both Yelich and the team is to move him way down in the order.
Typically, guys like Cooper Pratt, Luis Lara, Joey Ortiz, and David Hamilton are hitting seventh through ninth. The top of the order has been for stars such as Brice Turang, Jackson Chourio, and then there are players who move around, such as Mitchell, William Contreras, and then the mix between Bauers and Andrew Vaughn.
At the end of the day, Murphy had the following to say about his decision: "Yeli, he’s incredible. I respect him more now, and I didn’t think you could respect anybody any more," according to FSRWI's Hunter Baumgardt.
MLB.com's Adam McCalvy had another great quote from the two-time Manager of the Year: "I think there comes a point where you want something to change, you want something to spark, you want a different direction. … This is what’s best for the club.”
Yelich's batting average is down to .231
After the events of Tuesday, Aug. 4, Yelich is now slashing .231/.316/.371. These simply aren't the numbers a team wants from someone who isn't playing in the outfield anymore, and it's impossible for Murphy to justify having him hit in the top half of the order.
Yelich is hitless in his last three games, and he hasn't had a multi-hit game since July 22. That marks nine straight games, and it's alarming, to say the least.
The 34-year-old hit .353 in a short sample size in March, .294 in April, and then that number dropped to .208 in May, rose back up to .253 in June, but went down to a season low .205 in July. The consistency hasn't been there; his power is nowhere near what it once was, and the Brewers desperately need him to figure it out in these next two months.
