Yelich goes 'off the grid' to recharge for '23

PHOENIX -- Don’t ask Christian Yelich for his take on Trea Turner signing with the Phillies or Carlos Correa’s circuitous route back to the Twins. Yelich unplugged from baseball over the winter to get refreshed for 2023.

“I kind of just went off the grid,” said Yelich, now 31 and entering his sixth season with Milwaukee. “I hung out and enjoyed the down time. I think sometimes you get caught up in taking a week or two off and then it’s back to baseball season, which is cool. But I think it’s good to have balance sometimes, too.”

Yelich relaxed with family and friends and did some traveling, including a winter trip to Park City, Utah, with a group that included Brewers infielder Mike Brosseau. Baseball, the game, was still on Yelich’s mind as he began his usual training regimen to get ready for Spring Training, but he mostly ignored the comings and goings of the sport.

“Do things for yourself,” he said. “Enjoy your life, enjoy your free time. Because once baseball season comes, you’re doing baseball every day. From today until when the season’s over, we’re doing baseball every day. When you have time to do things on your own, experience life or whatever it is you want to do.

“It’s different for everybody, and I think you should take advantage of it. I think it’s healthy and in turn could make you better at what you do for a job.”

Yelich’s 2022 job performance was a mix of good and not so good. His .738 OPS was only three points better than his career-low .735 in ’21. It was not the level of production Yelich wanted as he entered the seven-year contract extension inked in March '20, just prior to the pandemic. But there were slivers of progress, including a 111 OPS+ (up from 101 the year before), 19 stolen bases (up from nine, and fueled in part by a midseason move to the leadoff spot), 2.3 WAR per Fangraphs (up from 1.6) and 671 plate appearances over 154 games, up from 475 in 117 as he battled back issues in '21.

The aim for everyone is to get Yelich back to his pre-pandemic, pre-contract extension, pre-broken kneecap production for Milwaukee from 2018-19, when he won the National League MVP Award the first year, finished runner-up the second and etched his name all over the franchise record books.

“If you're going to look at it like that -- and that's the hard part for Christian, frankly, too,” Brewers manager Craig Counsell said. “That's the really challenging part for him, is that there's really good, productive players, great players that aren't the MVP. But you get measured by your best performances. And we should be measured by our best performances, because that's clearly in us.

“That's what's still great about Christian, is that's in him. Those performances are in him. And that's a blessing and a curse. From Christian's end, you've just got to commit to doing your process and your quest to be the best -- it's like, very cliche -- but the best version of yourself. That's really all you can commit to in this process. And then you got to live with it, and you've got to not get bogged down by it when it's not exactly what you want. That's the challenge for him.”

The Brewers managed Yelich’s back last season with a healthy dose of designated hitter duty, but Counsell expects newcomer Jesse Winker to get a significant number of DH at-bats early in 2023 as he comes back from offseason knee and neck surgeries. And Counsell said he is a long way from making any decisions about where Yelich fits in the lineup.

Yelich said he’s open to anything and everything. He’s beginning 2023 with a clear mind after unplugging over the winter.

“I feel like I’m in a good spot this year just mentally, physically. Just a better place than I’ve been for the last couple years,” Yelich said. “I’m excited to get going and see what we can do. I understand what’s expected of me; I understand what comes along with that. You just kind of embrace it and go from there. We didn’t finish the way we wanted to finish last year; I know that’s been a very popular topic.

“But look, each year is its own year. We have a great opportunity in front of us, and we’ll see what we can do with it. I think it’s a time for optimism, not pessimism, when you’re beginning a season. We still have a very, very talented team. That hasn’t changed.”

He added, “Buckle up and let’s see what 2023 holds.”