MILWAUKEE -- That Christian Yelich traveled with the Brewers for a road trip that begins Friday night at Washington says less about the progress he’s making in his comeback from a groin injury, and more about what it’s like for a ballplayer to stay home.
“Staying back is boring,” said Yelich, who landed on the 10-day injured list on April 14 with a strained left groin.
He was reminded of just how boring it can be when the Brewers hit the road to Miami and Detroit on their last trip. Yelich stayed behind and reported to American Family Field every day to rehab with assistant athletic trainer and physical therapist Bryn Hester, along with other injured players like Andrew Vaughn and Jared Koenig.
The distance makes it difficult to stay connected for a player like Yelich, who is the most important of manager Pat Murphy’s clubhouse “pillars.”
“I want to be with the team,” he said. “I stayed back last time just because it was an important time to get a lot of [rehab] stuff done. You come here and do your stuff, and you’re just here by yourself. It’s better to be with the team.”
Yelich is right on schedule in his comeback, which means he is hitting flips from coaches and off a tee, and has resumed light running. The Brewers estimate a mid- to late-May return, meaning he still has several weeks of rehab work ahead.
“Everything feels good,” Yelich said. “You just have to do the work. It’s time, really, that makes you better.”
The Brewers hope he’s not the only player on the way to getting better, though Thursday’s win over the D-backs brought a new concern as veteran starter Brandon Woodruff’s velocity plummeted and he left the game after four outs.
Woodruff had already undergone an MRI scan by Thursday afternoon, hoping to avoid joining a robust list of key Milwaukee players on the IL. Besides Yelich, the Brewers are missing left fielder Jackson Chourio and Vaughn, both of whom are in the midst of a rehab assignment at Triple-A Nashville as they recover from fractured left hands.
Relievers Angel Zerpa (left forearm tightness), Koenig (sprained left elbow) and Rob Zastrzyny (intercostal strain) are all in the midst of lengthy absences, as is starter Quinn Priester (thoracic outlet syndrome).
With that backdrop, the Brewers’ 16-14 record going into the month of May is respectable, as Yelich sees it.
“It’s hard, every year, to avoid divided attention,” he said. “Everybody has different things going on, and it’s hard getting everybody on the same page. We’ve had a good group in that sense. They care about the right things. That’s helped us in this stretch. We haven’t buried ourselves.
“It doesn’t mean it’s going to be easy when we get our guys back. It’s going to be a challenging year. We have a great division and we’re going to have to play really, really well when everyone’s back.”