Yelichhit for the cycle twice in 2018 and once in 2022. At this point, he joinedBob Meusel,Babe Herman,Adrián Beltré, andTrea Turner as the onlyMLB players to hit for the cycle three times in career. He is also the only player with three cycles against the same team — theCincinnati Reds. Yelich is also just the third player to record two in a single season joining with Herman (1931) andAaron Hill (2012).
Yelich was born inThousand Oaks, California, and attendedWestlake High School.[1] During his freshman year, he batted .373 with 25 hits and 16 strikeouts in 67at-bats.[2] In his sophomore year, he batted .341 with 31 hits and 24 strikeouts in 91 at-bats.[3] During Yelich's junior year, he batted .489 with 46 hits and struck out six times.[4] In his senior year, he batted .451 with 37 hits, nine strikeouts and nine home runs in 82 at-bats.[5] 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.[6]
TheMiami Marlins selected Yelich in the first round, with the 23rd overall selection, in the2010 MLB draft. Yelich and the Marlins agreed to a $1.7 millionsigning bonus on August 17, shortly before the deadline to sign 2010 draftees was about to pass.[8][9] Yelich played for theGulf 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 theGreensboro 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.[10][11]
In the 2014 season, Yelich batted .284 with 21 steals out of the leadoff spot for the Miami Marlins.[14] He also won aGold Glove Award in left field, becoming the franchise's youngest ever player and first outfielder to win the award.[15][16][17] During the season, Yelich set a franchise record for fielding percentage in left field, at .996.[18] He served as the final out ofJordan Zimmermann's no-hitter on September 28, 2014, whenSteven 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.[19] 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.[20][21] His batting average reached a season low of .178 on May 22.[22] In August, Yelich bruised his right knee and was again placed on the disabled list.[23] 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.[24][25] Despite aggravating the injury shortly after his return, Yelich remained an active player for the quality of his bat.[26][27] Near the end of the season, Yelich shared the field withMarcell Ozuna, the outfielder who had replaced him during his second stint on the disabled list.[28] Yelich closed the 2015 season with a .300 average.[22] For the season, he had the highestground ball percentage (62.5%), and the lowestfly ball percentage (15.0%), of all major league hitters.[29]
Yelich was projected to bat third to start 2016.[30] He hit well in that spot, and managed to increase his power output.[31][32] On April 23, in a game against theSan Francisco Giants, Yelich hit three doubles, which tied a franchise record.[33] Defensively, Yelich was a starting outfielder, alongside Ozuna andGiancarlo Stanton.[34] In late May, Yelich missed some time due to back spasms.[35][36] 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 outfielderIchiro Suzuki was unavailable.[37]
On January 25, 2018, the Marlins traded Yelich to theMilwaukee Brewers forLewis Brinson,Isan Díaz,Monte Harrison, andJordan Yamamoto.[38] Yelich was named to the2018 MLB All-Star Game after batting .285 with 11 home runs, 36 RBIs, and 11 stolen bases.[39] Yelich, a reserve for theNational League, replacedMatt Kemp in left field and went 1-for-3, hitting a solo home run in an 8–6 extra-inning loss to theAmerican League. On August 29, Yelichhit for the cycle against theCincinnati Reds, collecting a total of six hits in the game.[40] On September 2, Yelich hit his first careergrand slam, in a game against theWashington Nationals.[41] On September 17, Yelich hit for the cycle, also against the Reds, for the second time in 19 days, becoming the fifth player in MLB history to hit two cycles in the same season and the first player in MLB history to do so against the same team.[42]
Yelich batting during his MVP season in 2018
Yelich finished the 2018 season with a .326/.402/.598slash line, 36 homers, and 110 RBIs, winning the firstNL batting title in Brewers history, while narrowly falling short of atriple crown.[43][44] He also was second in the league inpower-speed number (27.3).[45] On October 26, Yelich was announced as the National League recipient of the annualHank Aaron Award.[46] On November 16, Yelich was namedMost Valuable Player of the National League, falling one vote shy of a unanimous selection.[47]
On March 31, 2019, Yelich became the sixth player in MLB history to hit a home run in each of his team's first four games.[48]
On July 1, 2019, Yelich became the first player in Brewers franchise history to reach 30 home runs before the All-Star Break, beating former BrewerPrince Fielder's record of 29 home runs.[49] Yelich was selected to participate in the Home Run Derby but had to withdraw due to a back injury. He was replaced byMatt Chapman in the Home Run Derby. On September 10, 2019, Yelich hit a foul ball off his kneecap and consequently left the game.[50] Shortly thereafter, it was revealed that his right kneecap was fractured, which prematurely ended his 2019 season.
In 2019, Yelich won his second National League batting title. He batted .329/.429 (leading the NL)/.671 (leading the major leagues) with a 1.100OPS (leading the majors), 44 home runs (4th in the NL), 11.1 at-bats per home runs (leading the league), a .342ISO (leading the NL), 30 stolen bases (3rd), a 93.75 stolen base percentage (3rd), and 97 RBIs in 130 games.[51][52] He had the highest Hard Contact Percentage of all National League batters, at 50.8%.[53] Yelich was the first National League player to lead the league in batting average and slugging percentage in consecutive seasons sinceRogers Hornsby, who did so from 1920 to 1925. He won the NLHank Aaron Award for the second year in a row[54] and finished second in NL MVP voting.[55]
After the 2019 season, Yelich became the only player in Major League Baseball history to have consecutive seasons hitting .325 or higher with 35 or more homers and 20 or more steals.
On March 6, 2020, Yelich signed a nine-year, $215 million contract extension with the Brewers, more than doublingRyan Braun's previous record of $105 million for the richest contract in franchise history.[56] In the shortened 60-game 2020 season, he hit .205/.356/.430 with 12 home runs.
At the start of the 2021 season, Yelich had a lingering back problem that caused him to spend over half of April and the first few weeks of May on the injured list.
Yelich hit his third career cycle on May 11, 2022, becoming the sixth player in MLB history to do so, and the first player to accomplish three cycles against the same team, the Cincinnati Reds.[57]
In 2022, he had the highest ground ball percentage of all major leaguers (58.6%), the lowest fly ball percentage (23.0%), and batted .252/.355/.383.[58]
In the 2024 season, Yelich's season stats as of early July had nearly matched theweighted runs created plus (wRC+) he achieved in his MVP and near-MVP seasons of 2018 and 2019.[59] However, he was placed on the injured list with a back issue on July 24.[60] Despite Yelich's attempt to put off a back surgery until after the season,[61] he and the team announced on August 15 that he would be entering surgery the next day with the hope of returning in 2025.[62][63] On September 8, the team officially ended Yelich's season by transferring him to the 60-day injured list.[64]
On May 5, 2025, Yelich played his 1,500th career game against theHouston Astros, where he went 1–for–3 in the game with a solo home run, two RBIs, a stolen base, and walked once. With that milestone, he becomes the 730th player to reach that milestone.[65] On May 27, Yelich hit a grand slam walk-off home run in the bottom of the 10th inning to beat theBoston Red Sox 5-1. It was his first career walk-off home run.[66] On May 30 against thePhiladelphia Phillies, Yelich notched his 12th multi-homer game as a Brewer. He tied Milwaukee legendsRichie Sexson andRob Deer for 9th-most in franchise history.[67] On June 2, Yelich was named theNational League Player of the Week for May 26-June 1, a span in which he batted .500 (10–20) with 5 Runs, 3 home runs, 9 RBI, and an OPS of 1.545. This is the sixth time that Yelich has won a Player of the Week award, but the first since April 2019.[68] Yelich also had an on-base streak of 30 consecutive games, from June 15 to July 25.
On July 28, against the Chicago Cubs, Yelich hit his 20th home run of the season, which made 2025 his first season since 2019 where he'd hit at least 20 home runs in a season.
On September 10, 2018, he was selected to play with the MLB All-Stars at the2018 MLB Japan All-Star Series,[72] but he later withdrew from the event.[73]
Yelich appeared (as himself) in an episode ofMagnum P.I. that aired on March 4, 2019. His scene was with the 2018 Honolulu Little League World Champions in which he homers off a pitch from series protagonist Orville "Rick" Wright (played byZachary Knighton).[82] Yelich once invitedCleveland Browns quarterback and 2017Heisman Trophy winnerBaker Mayfield to Brewers batting practice.[83]
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