Yelich (back) still out, 'but I'm getting better'

MILWAUKEE -- Brewers star Christian Yelich said he was “trending in the right direction” as he continued treatment for another bout of back stiffness on Saturday, when he took some swings in the batting cage and ran around the outfield at Miller Park prior to the team’s batting practice.

It all marked progress for Yelich, who missed a fourth straight start.

“I’m not playing,” he said, “but I’m getting better.”

Yelich could return to the lineup as early as Sunday against the Rangers, but with a team off-day on Monday, it might make some sense to hold him out of one more start until Tuesday night, when the Twins are at Miller Park for the opener of a two-game series.

This is at least the third bout of back stiffness that has cost Yelich playing time this season. Nevertheless, he entered play on Saturday leading the Major Leagues with 39 home runs, a .705 slugging percentage, a 1.133 OPS and 279 total bases.

“We’ll just see how he’s doing, and when he’s ready to play, he’ll be in there,” Brewers manager Craig Counsell said. “Look, injuries are uncertain. We don’t know when injuries are going to happen. If Christian is good to go, he’s going to play. If he’s not able to play, he can’t play. Nobody is trying to have injuries. We just have to deal with these as they come. I think he’s a little frustrated by it popping up again, but now that it’s here, we’ve got to treat it, we’ve got to get it better, we’ve got to make sure it’s healthy when he goes back out on the field.

“I’m not concerned about the rest of the season in any way. We haven’t been, frankly, able to identify -- it’s been caused by weird things, so we haven’t been able to identify exactly what’s causing it. That’s been the nature of it. From our perspective at this point, it’s not anything long term ever. That’s a good feeling. We don’t think it’s anything structural. So from that perspective, we’ll just try to keep strengthening it, keep trying to keep him balanced, keep trying to keep him as healthy as we can. He’s on the same path as us in thinking that. … You can’t go out there in this sport and feel uncomfortable rotating. That’s just not going to work.”

Davies ‘looking good’

Zach Davies successfully navigated a 20-pitch bullpen session on Friday and will throw a more aggressive mound session on Sunday while on the 10-day injured list for back spasms. Davies is “looking good,” Counsell said, to rejoin the rotation on or before Aug. 20, which is the next date the Brewers will need a fifth starter.

“It felt good, and it was a box to check to continue on,” Davies said. "[Sunday] will be a little heavier, more volume, more effort. Another box to check.”

When Davies went down, it meant all five members of the Brewers’ Opening Day rotation were either injured, had been demoted to the bullpen or both.

“It’s coincidental to me, it happening all at once,” Davies said. “it’s just an inopportune time, but that’s baseball. We’re working through it.”

Last call

The Brewers’ 6-5, walk-off win over the Rangers on Friday gave Counsell 377 regular-season victories as a manager, tying George Bamberger for fourth most in Brewers history. Next on the list is Tom Trebelhorn (422 wins), then Ned Yost (457 wins) and Phil Garner (563 wins).