Brewers' Pat Murphy shares Christian Yelich update amid continued absence

Where the Brewers are right now, 5.5 games up in the division and 4.5 ahead of Philadelphia for the top playoff seed, they don’t have to push it. Yelich’s injury history, which includes season-ending back surgery in 2024, also suggests that caution is the play.

It helps, certainly, that Jackson Chourio is back, along with Bauers as another left-handed bat when the lineup needs it.

Perhaps Yelich could have avoided aggravating the injury to this point if he had taken more immediate steps, but that’s pure speculation. It’s also not who he is. He remained in the game he hurt himself, on a leg-out double in a one-run game, and played through several afterward because he wants to be there for his teammates and set an example of toughness, Murphy said. Yelich was prepared to play Wednesday before being scratched late. Resting the left-handed Yelich again against Phillies southpaw Ranger Suarez made good sense.

There is no reason to put him at risk. Although Brewers fans probably want the reassuring news that Yelich is back in the lineup, they also don’t want the team to risk making things worse.