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You recently wrote that the Brewers have a zero at DH and yeah, Christian Yelich has an 88 wRC+ and a negative WAR.
What will the Brewers do with DH and Yelich for the stretch run? What should they do? And what will/should they do for the postseason?
-- Mike C.
I think they may be stuck for the moment, as none of the young hitters they’ve pushed forward this year have out-hit Yelich. Even when Sal Frelick returns, he probably squeezes Luis Lara, and Lara has the same 89 OPS+ Yelich does.
The options for bumping Yelich are two right-handed batters in Andrew Vaughn and Gary Sanchez. Sanchez doesn’t hit righties well enough to bother. Vaughn is interesting because if Jake Bauers is going to be an everyday, every-inning player -- Pat Murphy hasn’t pinch-hit for him in almost a month -- you don’t need to hold out Vaughn as a platoon option for him. Like Sanchez, though, he has a big platoon split, and there’s some tactical value in having Vaughn as an option off the bench to hit for Frelick, Mitchell, or Yelich when a lefty reliever comes in.
There’s some realpolitik here, too. If Yelich isn’t going to at least be the platoon DH, he’s basically not worth the roster spot. He’s played 11 innings in the field this year. I guess he could hit for Joey Ortiz or Sanchez against righty relievers, maybe pinch-run for William Contreras, but there are just not a lot of ways to use him once you decide he’s not starting.
I could see Jeferson Quero or Bo Naylor on a playoff roster, freeing up Sanchez for DH. There’s a fringe idea that Naylor, raking at Nashville, shows up in September and forces a decision on Yelich. We’re probably too late in the year for Blake Burke to insert himself into the picture, especially since he’s off to a slow start at Nashville, but I figured I’d mention him.
So yeah, it’s a tough spot, but with no hitters putting much pressure on Yelich, I think you are stuck with him in a platoon role.
--J.
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