PHOENIX – What’s old is new again for Christian Yelich.
In the ever-evolving world of breaking down what’s different for the Milwaukee Brewers designated hitter and highest-paid player, a return to a prior staple stood out on March 4 as Yelich made his spring training debut at American Family Fields of Phoenix.
Out with the toe tap. In with the leg kick.
“Just playing around with it,” Yelich said. “I’ve done it in the past. I think I can do it again, so just testing it out. I haven’t seen what it looks like on video or anything like that but it felt good regardless of the result.”
The results didn’t hurt: First, a 106.8-mph homer that scraped the high, cloudless Arizona sky, then a 101-mph single smashed through the right side of the infield. Mix in a walk, and it was a picture-perfect showing on an idyllic day in the desert.
“He’s working really hard,” manager Pat Murphy said of his 34-year-old DH. “He worked hard this off-season. It’s a great thing when a kid at his age [with what he’s accomplished in the game] wants to be a great player. It’s a great sign.”
Yelich has utilized the toe tap in his swing almost exclusively since early in the 2023 season. At the conclusion of April that season, Yelich was batting .223 with a .665 OPS; the switch away from the leg kick helped get his timing back on track and played a part in a strong finish to the year and a .280/.364/.469 slash line (average, OBP, slugging) since.
But getting back to a leg kick for Yelich is getting back to his natural swing.
It’s the timing mechanism he used when he came up with the Miami Marlins and when he was named the National League’s most valuable player in 2018. He’s comfortable using either to launch into his swing, but when he’s at his most fluid in the box it’s when he’s lifting his right foot up and slightly curling his knee backward.
“There’s no one way to hit,” Yelich said. “I just wanted to – I feel like I’m most athletic when I can do that, so that’s kind of why.”
The undertone of Yelich’s experiment with his mechanics is that, even in Year 14, he’s trying to find the edge to stay at the top of his game. Yelich is coming off a strong campaign in which he hit .264 with 29 home runs, drove in 103 runs and posted a .795 OPS, finishing 12th in MVP voting, but he spent the off-season trying to get back to more of his former swing.
And if it doesn’t feel right, the toe tap – old faithful – is right there.
“I just feel more athletic,” Yelich said. “I’ve had success both ways and I’ve done not-well both ways. So for me, it’s more just I want to be athletic and see what I can do there, and then know that I always have things to go back to if I don’t like it any more.”
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Christian Yelich went back to an old staple of his swing – and immediately homered
Reporting by Curt Hogg, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
