2023 will be Christian Yelich’s 11th season as a major league baseball player. The 31-year-old is a one-time MVP and Gold Glove award winner, two time All-Star and batting champion, and has won a Silver Slugger award three times. He is now closing in on a few career milestones, both of which could be achieved next season.
Here are two career milestones that Christian Yelich could achieve in 2023.
The two milestones that Yelich could achieve in 2023 are 1,500 career hits and 200 home runs. Yelich currently has 1,352 career hits and 174 home runs. This means that he needs 148 hits and 26 long balls in order to reach these milestones.
Last season, Yelich collected 145 hits over 154 games. He logged 671 plate-appearances, which is the most he’s had since 2018 when he had 651. It is very likely that Yelich will continue to be the teams leadoff hitter in 2023, which should increase his odds of achieving 1,500 career hits next season.
As for reaching 200 career home runs, 26 long balls next season is possible but a lot less likely than collecting 148 hits. Yelich’s best power days may be behind him, in which he hit 36 in 2018 and 44 in 2019. Outside of those two years, he hit greater than 20 home runs in a season just once. Steamer’s projection system does have Yelich predicted to hit 21 home runs in 2023.
Yelich’s ability to stay healthy will also play a role if he is able to reach either one of these milestones next season. He did not have an injured list stint last season but missed a good portion of 2021 with back problems. Hopefully he can remain in good health, reach these milestones and return to the high offensive standards that he has set for himself.
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