Yelich relieved to avoid collision with Stanton

MIAMI -- At 6-foot-6, 240-pounds, Giancarlo Stanton is an imposing figure who is difficult to miss in the outfield. Christian Yelich is certainly glad he was able to stay clear of his teammate on a fly ball to the gap in right-center at Marlins Park on Monday night.

Yelich, playing center, was tracking Jayson Werth's long drive in the second inning of Washington's 9-2 win over Miami.

As Yelich was zeroing in on the ball, at the last second, he noticed Stanton charging and reaching.

On a collision course with one of the strongest players in the game, Yelich veered out of the way as Stanton made a terrific reaching catch to rob Werth of extra bases.

"Obviously, that's never fun," Yelich said. "You never want to run into that guy. It's not going to end well for me. It will probably always end well for him. I was calling it, and he was calling it."

Yelich, a lanky 22-year-old, is listed at 6-4, 200 pounds.

Able to joke about it the next day, Yelich said of Stanton: "You can definitely tell he is coming. It sounds like a horse. I think I got lucky."

The Marlins had some fun with the near miss.

"We probably would have been wearing a 'CY' patch tonight," Yelich said. "That's what he told me after the game."

The issue of communicating in the outfield is something teams take seriously.

"You're always nervous when you've got two guys out there going full speed," manager Mike Redmond said. "That would not be a pretty collision there, probably more so for Yeli than Stanton there. I guess you always get a little nervous. Those are always the things you worry about, the communication in the outfield. Those things do happen. Fortunately, it didn't happen."

Yelich hasn't played much center field in the big leagues. He normally is in left field. But with Marcell Ozuna getting the night off due to a bruised left foot, Yelich got the call.

"When you're both running, it's hard to hear each other call," Yelich said. "We were both calling for it at the same time. I heard him at the last minute. I kind of saw out of the side that he wasn't stopping, so I kind of peeled off -- self preservation. Otherwise, I probably would be out there still."