If he’s a good hitter, why doesn’t he hit good?
That’s one of the great lines from Brad Pitt as Oakland A’s General Manager Billy Beane in Moneyball.
It’s a question that we need to start asking about Christian Yelich.
He was the best hitter in baseball in 2018, when he won the NL MVP, and in 2019, when he finished 2nd in MVP voting.
Then the bottom fell out.
In ’18 and ’19, he hit 36 and 44 home runs respectively.
Since then, only 21 in nearly 600 at-bats.
Look, I get that there are excuses here.
He broke his kneecap.
There was a pandemic shortened-season.
He didn’t have a real spring training.
He couldn’t get into a groove.
He hurt his back.
His hitting coach changed.
Yada Yada Yada.
It’s been 2 years, and he still hasn’t figured it out.
Those reasons are starting to look like excuses dressed up in fancy clothes.
Today marks the start of a lucrative contract extension.
It’s time for Yeli to earn it.
If he doesn’t, the Brewers will have some difficult decisions to make, and they can kiss their World Series hopes goodbye.