MILWAUKEE -- Christian Yelich was in the batter’s box at Miller Park four hours before the first pitch on Saturday. Just like clockwork, something big was coming.
Yelich connected for a 460-foot home run in the first inning of the Brewers’ 7-6 win over the Pirates at Miller Park, his second-longest homer since Statcast began tracking them in 2015, and a welcome payoff to the dozens of swings he took with hitting coach Andy Haines during a 45-minute session that afternoon.
“I've [stunk] so far, so just trying to get something to go off of and get back to being good at baseball again,” Yelich said. “That would be really nice.”
Haines was happy to serve up homers -- Pirates rookie right-hander JT Brubaker, not so much. Brubaker fell behind 3-0 in the count. Yelich looked at a sinker for a strike and then crushed the next pitch, a 93.8 mph sinker. The drive to right field left Yelich’s bat at 112 mph, according to Statcast.
Seven innings later, Yelich contributed again with a line-drive double to right field in the eighth inning, 107.2 mph off the bat. It started a two-run rally that briefly gave the Brewers the lead in a game that went all the way to the bottom of the ninth.
Yelich moved his usual cage work outside after tallying two hits in his last 19 at-bats leading to an off-day on Friday. Yelich, clad in a black shirt and shorts over black tights, spoke with Haines at home plate for several minutes while Haines laid two baseballs at the edge of the batter’s box to mark where Yelich should position his feet. Then came a series of swings, first with underhand tosses from Haines and then, following another extended chat, with overhand throws.
Brewers third-base coach Ed Sedar, one of several men shagging baseballs in the outfield, marked every home run by calling out, “That’s gonnnne!”
“He's doing some extra work, yeah, but I don't think any of these things are like, 'We've found the answer,'” Brewers manager Craig Counsell said Saturday afternoon. “It's work. It's what Christian usually does in the cage. They just did it on the field today for something different. It's continued work.
“There is some aspect of trying to find something that locks you in so one of the ways you do that is going to a different training environment on the field. Hopefully, that helps a little bit.”
It had happened before. Last year, after an unproductive series at Dodger Stadium in April, Yelich returned home and took the field on the afternoon of Jackie Robinson Day with Haines. That night, Yelich hit three home runs.
Before he connected Saturday, Yelich was 1-for-25 with 10 strikeouts against Pirates pitchers this season.
It’s part of the story of Yelich’s struggles this season. After winning each of the past two National League batting titles, he’s hitting .202. His .486 slugging percentage is down sharply from last year’s Major League-leading .671.
But his numbers have been slowly rising.
“We've been working on it daily, and thought we made some progress today,” Yelich said. “We just have to keep after it."