MILWAUKEE – The crux of Pat Murphy’s explanation for why Christian Yelich batted leadoff before Game 4 of the National League Division Series on Thursday was simple.
“He hits more today.”
Every decision is put under a microscope in the postseason, but there’s something to be said about tangoing with the person who took you to the dance, and Yelich has done the eight count better than just about anyone for the Brewers this year.
Yelich’s .795 OPS was the best among players who spent the whole year with the team (Andrew Vaughn had an .868 OPS after being acquired in June). And Yelich has by far the most playoff experience for this young club, the lone position player who has been part of this run of seven postseason berths in eight years.
There hasn’t been much October success to speak of, though, as the Brewers have lost their past five postseason series (six if you count the single-game 2019 NL Wild Card). After jumping out to a 2-0 lead over the Cubs in this Division Series, the Brewers are returning to Milwaukee for a win-or-go-home Game 5 Saturday night after they dropped a pair of games at Wrigley Field.
“It’s part of the story, man,” Yelich said after Thursday’s 6-0 loss. “Sometimes you’re going to have to win some big games. You face some adversity in the postseason and you have to keep going. We played well at our own field, they took care of business here. We’ll go back and get ready for Saturday and make sure we play well.”
There are plenty of reasons why the Brewers weren’t able to close out their first postseason series win since 2018. Quinn Priester and Freddy Peralta allowed devastating first-inning home runs. The offense hasn’t been able to produce much outside of the first few innings in any game this series. On Thursday, Milwaukee went 0-for-12 with a runner on base.
So while it’s not the sole reason for the Brewers hitting a skid with the season on the line, it raises the question of whether batting Yelich leadoff, like Murphy did the past two games, is the right call.
Yelich had six games in the regular season in which he batted first, the fourth most on the team, so it’s not an unprecedented lineup change. It’s not exactly an easy call to just go with one of the three more regular leadoff hitters, though.
Jackson Chourio’s right hamstring is not 100%, and if he needs to be pulled mid-game, that would likely mean Isaac Collins taking his place. Collins had a great rookie season, but he struggled in September. Brice Turang and Sal Frelick have not produced much this series, and while a change in their spot in the order could theoretically spark something, you also run the risk of having a slumping hitter get the most at-bats in a must-win game.
The flip side of the coin is: Does batting Yelich leadoff create unfavorable matchups? In the fifth inning Thursday, Joey Ortiz laid down a sacrifice bunt to put two runners in scoring position with one out, giving the Brewers an avenue to make it a ballgame again. Yelich was the first batter up, but he struck out against the lefty Matthew Boyd. The Cubs then went to right-handed reliever Daniel Palencia, who got Chourio to pop out, ending the rally.
Had Chourio batted leadoff and Yelich second, there’s a good chance the Cubs would have gone to Palencia rather than have Boyd face a right-hander for the third time in a pivotal spot. Had Chicago done that, Yelich would have faced a right-hander instead of a lefty, and his OPS this season was 200 points higher against righties (.860 vs. .660). If Yelich had come through in a more favorable matchup, perhaps the Brewers would be preparing for a date with the Dodgers rather than playing for the postseason lives.
Yelich was arguably the Brewers’ top hitter this year, and he is in the discussion for one of the greatest hitters in franchise history. Saturday is going to be one of the biggest games of his Milwaukee career, the type of game where you lean on your best players.
Is batting him first the right call? Because something needs to get this offense going again.
“I don’t think there’s an ‘it,’” Yelich said. “These days happen. It’s the sport, man. You have to regroup. We’ve got one more game to play, so we have to make sure we’re ready to go. I’ve got confidence in these guys, in this group. Everybody is fine. We’re ready to go. You brush this one off in a few minutes and lock in [Friday] on the off-day and get ready to go in Game 5.”
