Milwaukee Brewers: Update On Christian Yelich’s Injury Timetable

The Milwaukee Brewers are receiving some good news on their star outfielder a day after receiving terrible news the day before.

When Christian Yelich went down with a fractured kneecap that the Milwaukee Brewers said would end his season, the news was the worst that we had feared. Then, the next step was determining if the injury would require surgery.

Now, a day later, we have the answer, courtesy of Jim Bowden of The Athletic, who had the news first.

No surgery is necessary for Yelich, which means he’ll be ready to go for spring training 2020 and there should be no long-term effects moving forward.

What Is The Timetable?

Robert Murray also of The Athletic had that information.

It’s a six-to-eight week timeline for Yelich. Jim Bowden, also of The Athletic, reported that it would be closer to six weeks for Yelich, but Murray provides a wider range for the timetable.

If you look at the calendar, the six week mark is during the World Series, which, if the Milwaukee Brewers could make, that would make for a dramatic and heroic return to play for Yelich. But for that to happen, the Brewers will need to somehow make it through the gauntlet that the NL playoffs will be this year and make the World Series, all without their best player. Even with Yelich, that would’ve been a tall task.

Then the Brewers made their official announcement, which had a different timetable.

The Brewers are also most likely to play it safe with their franchise star, not wanting to rush him back too early and risk further injury, even in the case of a World Series berth. But the Brewers have an 8-10 week timetable, which would put us in the offseason.

In all likelihood, we’ve seen the last of Yelich in 2019. But with projected timetables for a fractured kneecap that would require surgery keeping Yelich out for a chunk of the 2020 season, many were extremely worried. This is definitely good news that Yelich will be 100% and ready to go for Opening Day and spring training in 2020.

After a string of bad news for the Milwaukee Brewers these past few weeks, this is a welcome change of pace and perhaps a sign things are turning for the better, as the Crew has also won their past six games.

Christian Yelich is the most important player on this Brewers roster. If they’re going to have any postseason success with this core group of players, it’ll be because of Yelich.