Christian Yelich

Christian Stephen Yelich (born December 5, 1991) is an American professional baseball left fielder for the Milwaukee Brewers of Major League Baseball (MLB).

He previously played for the Miami Marlins.

The Marlins selected Yelich in the first round of the 2010 MLB draft.

The Miami Marlins selected Yelich in the first round, with the 23rd overall selection, in the 2010 MLB draft.

Yelich and the Marlins agreed to a $1.7 million signing bonus on August 17, shortly before the deadline to sign 2010 draftees was about to pass.

Yelich played for the Gulf Coast League Marlins for six games, getting nine hits and seven strikeouts with a batting average of .375 before being advanced to Class-A.

He played in six games for the Greensboro Grasshoppers in 2010, batting .348.

In 2011, he batted .261 with 43 hits, six strikeouts and four home runs.

Yelich was named the Marlins' Minor League Player of the Year in both 2011 and 2012.

He made his MLB debut for the Marlins in 2013, and was traded to the Brewers in the 2017-18 offseason.

On July 23, 2013, the Marlins promoted Yelich to MLB from the Double-A Jacksonville Suns.

Yelich won a Gold Glove Award in 2014, the Silver Slugger Award in 2016, 2018 and 2019, and the National League's Most Valuable Player Award in 2018.

Yelich was born in Thousand Oaks, California, and attended Westlake High School.

During his freshman year, he batted .373 with 25 hits and 16 strikeouts in 67 at-bats.

In his sophomore year, he batted .341 with 31 hits and 24 strikeouts in 91 at-bats.

During Yelich's junior year, he batted .489 with 46 hits and struck out six times.

In his senior year, he batted .451 with 37 hits, nine strikeouts and nine home runs in 82 at-bats.

He was named Second Team All-American by Max Preps and was ranked 34 among the top 100 players in the nation in high school.

Yelich accepted a scholarship to play college baseball for the Miami Hurricanes baseball team.

In the 2014 season, Yelich batted .284 with 21 steals out of the leadoff spot for the Miami Marlins.

He also won a Gold Glove Award in left field, becoming the franchise's youngest ever player and first outfielder to win the award.

During the season, Yelich set a franchise record for fielding percentage in left field, at .996.

He served as the final out of Jordan Zimmermann's no-hitter on September 28, 2014, when Steven Souza Jr.. made a diving play to save the no-hitter.

Yelich and the Marlins finalized a seven-year, $49.57 million contract extension on March 22, 2015.

He struggled to start the season, and was placed on the disabled list in April with lower back strain before making his return on May 8.

His batting average reached a season low of .178 on May 22.

In August, Yelich bruised his right knee and was again placed on the disabled list.

Yelich had improved from his earlier offensive struggles and was hitting .275/.343/.376 with six home runs, 29 RBIs and 14 stolen bases up to that point in the season.

Despite aggravating the injury shortly after his return, Yelich remained an active player for the quality of his bat.

Near the end of the season, Yelich shared the field with Marcell Ozuna, the outfielder who had replaced him during his second stint on the disabled list.

Yelich closed the 2015 season with a .300 average.

For the season, he had the highest ground ball percentage (62.5%), and the lowest fly ball percentage (15.0%), of all major league hitters.

Yelich was projected to bat third to start 2016.

He hit well in that spot, and managed to increase his power output.

On April 23, in a game against the San Francisco Giants, Yelich hit three doubles, which tied a franchise record.

Defensively, Yelich was a starting outfielder, alongside Ozuna and Giancarlo Stanton.

In late May, Yelich missed some time due to back spasms.

After Stanton was placed on the disabled list, Ozuna played Stanton's usual position in right field, while Yelich took Ozuna's spot in center on days that backup outfielder Ichiro Suzuki was unavailable.

On January 25, 2018, the Marlins traded Yelich to the Milwaukee Brewers for Lewis Brinson, Isan Díaz, Monte Harrison, and Jordan Yamamoto.

Yelich was named to the 2018 MLB All-Star Game after batting .285 with 11 home runs, 36 RBIs, and 11 stolen bases.