Christian Yelich isn’t an All-Star, but he’s playing like an MVP candidate

Christian Yelich isn’t an All-Star this year.

That was pretty much a foregone conclusion. The Brewers’ highest-paid player missed the end of last season due to a back injury and started slow this year. Like, really slow. Through May 21 — two months before this year’s All-Star Game — Yelich was hitting .190 with seven home runs. When All-Star fan voting opened on June 4, he was up to .237 with a .746 OPS. Those numbers weren’t going to get him voted in ahead of Shohei Ohtani or Kyle Schwarber as a DH.

If you look at the outfield spots, it only gets a little easier to make an All-Star case for Yelich. Below are the stats (through Sunday, when the All-Star reserves were announced) for the corner outfielders named to the National League All-Star team:

Kyle Tucker: 396 PA, .284/.387/.515, 150 wRC+, 17 HR, 65 RBI, 22 SB, 14.1% BB%, 13.9% K%, .231 ISO

Ronald Acuña: 169 PA, .331/.450/.561, 182 wRC+, 9 HR, 18 RBI, 4 SB, 17.8% BB%, 26.6% K%, .230 ISO

James Wood: 403 PA, .287/.390/.545, 157 wRC+, 23 HR, 68 RBI, 12 SB, 14.1% BB%, 26.6% K%, .258 ISO

Corbin Carroll: 332 PA, .247/.331/.556, 142 wRC+, 20 HR, 44 RBI, 10 SB, 9.0% BB%, 25.6% K%, .308 ISO

Kyle Stowers: 322 PA, .280/.352/.514, 138 wRC+, 16 HR, 46 RBI, 3 SB, 9.3% BB%, 28.9% K%, .234 ISO

Fernando Tatis Jr.: 383 PA, .261/.355/.444, 127 wRC+, 15 HR, 39 RBI, 19 SB, 11.7% BB%, 17.5% K%, .183 ISO

Now, compare those lines to Christian Yelich’s season totals:

Christian Yelich: 330 PA, .258/.333/.455, 121 WRC+, 18 HR, 63 RBI, 13 SB, 9.2% BB%, 26.6% K%, .197 ISO.

Yelich also has the lowest WAR (1.7, per Baseball Reference) of the group, tied with Stowers. Since every team gets at least one All-Star, and Stowers is the best player on the Marlins, I can’t in good faith argue for Yelich over him. There’s a (weak) argument to be made for Yelich over Tatis based on hitting stats alone. The problem with that is that Tatis is a great defender, while Yelich has started eight games all season in the outfield. Juan Soto also didn’t make the All-Star team. His season-long stats are more impressive than Yeli’s, so he’d probably get in before Yelich did.

In short, Yelich’s slow start messed up pretty much any chance he had at making the All-Star game for a second straight season. Remember how I said he was hitting .190 on May 21? Don’t let that distract you from the fact that he’s been playing like a legit MVP candidate since:

Christian Yelich (last seven weeks): 171 PA, .333/.392/.590, 174 wRC+, 11 HR, 37 RBI, 5 SB, 7.6% BB%, 25.1 K%, .256 ISO

For fun, let’s compare those stats to All-Star starter and 2023 NL MVP Ronald Acuña:

Acuña’s stats through 169 PA: .331/.450/.561, 182 wRC+, 9 HR, 18 RBI, 4 SB, 17.8% BB%, 26.6% K%, .230 ISO

What about the reigning National League MVP Shohei Ohtani (currently at -1000 odds to repeat)?

Shohei Ohtani (last seven weeks): 197 PA, .247/.357/.554, 148 wRC+, 14 HR, 26 RBI, 1 SB, 13.2% BB%, 27.4% K%, .307 ISO

Since Yelich got hot, exactly two months before the All-Star game, his batting average is 86 points higher than Ohtani’s. His wRC+ is 26 points higher. His OPS is 71 points higher.

Eight players have a higher wRC+ than Yelich since May 21. Just one of those eight players (the Cubs’ Michael Busch) also has a better batting average. Yeli ranks third in the National League in RBIs and fifth in wOBA (.418) over that timespan. His stats over the last couple of months prove he’s still one of the best hitters in the game.

It’s no coincidence that the Brewers got hot around the same time that Yelich did. On May 21, when Yelich was ten points below the Mendoza line, the Brewers were one game above .500. Today, they’re 53-40 after sweeping the Los Angeles Dodgers — a team that is currently spending more than the Brewers’ entire payroll on their IL. Milwaukee is 29-15 over the last seven weeks and within a couple of games of the Cubs in the division.

This hot streak has truly been a team effort. Sal Frelick, Brice Turang, Jackson Chourio, Joey Ortiz, Caleb Durbin, and the pitching staff have all stepped up at times. Each of those guys is more than deserving of the love that they get.

And yet, Christian Yelich — in his 13th year in the league — is still there leading the Brewers in home runs and RBIs. As Yelich goes, the Brewers go. Isn’t that truly the definition of the most valuable player?

Baseball fans already know that a healthy Yelich is an MVP-caliber hitter. He was a legitimate MVP contender as recently as last season before the aforementioned back injury ended his season.

It’ll be really hard for Yelich to actually win MVP as (mainly) a DH, especially with Ohtani pitching like Red Sox Babe Ruth and hitting like Yankees Babe Ruth. Still, consider this my campaign to put Yelich on MVP-candidate watch. He’s been playing like one for almost two months now. If the Yelaissance continues into August, it might be time to put him in the conversation.