Here are most popular MLB player jerseys of ‘19

For the third season in a row, Yankees star outfielder Aaron Judge reigns as the most popular jersey in the game, Major League Baseball and the MLB Players Association announced on Friday. Judge topped fan favorites like Bryce Harper, Cody Bellinger, Javier Báez and Christian Yelich, who rounded out the top five.

A trio of National League MVP contenders made the biggest jumps on the list in 2019. Yelich, the 2018 NL MVP, was unranked during his MVP season, but he jumped to No. 5 on this year’s list. Bellinger went from No. 15 on last year’s list to No. 3, and Braves superstar Ronald Acuña Jr. rose from No. 20 in 2018 to No. 6 in ‘19.

On the American League side, Astros MVP hopeful Alex Bregman made his first appearance on the list, checking in at No. 13. He came in just behind perennial MVP candidate Mike Trout, who ranked ninth this year. It’s the first time since MLB player jersey rankings have been released that the nine most popular players are all under the age of 30.

The sound you are hearing now is Barry Halper’s ghost, trying to figure out how he can claim that some of these jerseys were game-used…..

Improved Pitching Is Fueling Brewers’ Postseason Push Without Christian Yelich

September constitutes its own weird frame of reference for MLB—speed and distance are harder to accurately discern, everything passes too slowly or too fast, the stakes are either so high that you cannot look down or so low that the situation is all flattened out. The usual standards do not apply.

So, from the perspective of this late-season weirdness, when Christian Yelich fractured his kneecap on September 10, it seemed fairly clear: Milwaukee’s season was over. The Brewers would not return to the postseason for a second consecutive year. An extreme reaction to one injury? Sure. But the team was one game back of the second wild-card; Yelich was not only their best player, but arguably the best in the National League; and their proximity to a playoff spot had been possible only with an extreme hot stretch that seemed like it would be difficult to sustain even under the best of circumstances. Their remaining schedule was fairly easy (four of five series were against losing teams), but even so, there was no room for error; FanGraphs put their postseason chances at just 25%. The stakes were just too much, and Yelich was too good. There was too much time to fill. From this frame of reference, Milwaukee was, if not screwed, dangerously close to it.

But, of course, it wasn’t. The Brewers’ Wednesday win over the Reds clinched their postseason spot. Even without Yelich, they’re going back to October. They have not just survived the last two weeks. They’ve dominated them. Since Yelich’s injury, Milwaukee is 12-2, part of a greater run that’s turned on the strength of what was formerly their biggest weakness: In September, Brewers pitching has been crucial to their success.

Milwaukee’s staff has ranged from clear problem area (in the spring) to serious liability (early season) to, at best, simply fine (late summer). As a group, it’s never been a particular positive. And now?

Not what any of us were expecting two weeks ago, is it?

Injured Yelich still in the hunt for batting title

The Milwaukee Brewers are charging toward a playoff spot without Christian Yelich.

And even while injured, Yelich is inching closer to a nice individual honor.

Yelich is currently the National League’s batting leader, although he’s out with a fractured kneecap and can only watch as his team chases a postseason berth. The batting race may not be foremost on his mind, but that’s coming down to the wire too — with Yelich’s .329 average holding the lead.

Ketel Marte is also batting .329, but he’s been shut down for the season with back problems. With an additional decimal place, his average of .3286 trails Yelich’s .3292. Washington’s Anthony Rendon went 1 for 3 on Monday night and is at .325.

Brewers move into tie with Nationals for first NL Wild Card

The Brewers, once left for dead after outfielder Christian Yelich suffered a season-ending injury, defeated the Pirates 4-3 on Sunday afternoon. That, paired with the Nationals’ 5-3 loss to the Marlins, moved them into a tie for the first NL Wild Card. The Brewers are 10-2 since Yelich’s injury.

During Sunday’s game, the Brewers brought a combined perfect game bid into the seventh inning. It ended when Gio González allowed a one-out single to Bryan Reynolds. The Brewers’ four runs came on two Eric Thames homers and an Orlando Arcia homer. The Pirates mounted a rally in the eighth inning, scoring three runs, but Josh Hader came in and slammed the door, getting the final four outs.

Is it just me, or, between this and how the Yankees have been doing, are injuries not having the effect that they usually have on a team?

Two injured MVPs is a major bummer for baseball

Last week Christian Yelich‘s season ended with a fractured kneecap. At the time he went down he was neck-and-neck with Cody Bellinger — I think a tad behind, though people may reasonably differ — and, at least by my reckoning, a hair or three above Anthony Rendon, Ketel Marte and Pete Alonso in the race for the NL MVP Award. As I wrote last week, I think that means Bellinger is going to walk away with the hardware when the winner is announced in November. Yelich’s injury will prevent him from making a late season surge to surpass Bellinger, but I think it would’ve taken a surge for him to do it.

Over the weekend we learned that Mike Trout’s season is over as well. He’ll be having foot surgery to deal with a nerve issue causing him pain. At the time he went down he was the clear frontrunner to win his third MVP Award. Unlike Yelich, I’m pretty sure Trout will still win the trophy. Sure, Trout hasn’t played since September 7, meaning that he’ll miss more time than Yelich will, but strained articles stumping for alternative candidates notwithstanding, his lead in the MVP race was more secure.

Trout’s 2019 ends with him setting a career high in homers with 45 and slugging percentage at .645—both of which lead the American League. He likewise leads the league in on-base percentage (.438), OPS (1.083), and in both Baseball-Reference.com’s and FanGraphs’ versions of WAR at 8.3 and 8.6, respectively. With just under two weeks to go it seems likely that Jorge Soler of the Royals will pass Trout for the home run lead, but he’s not an MVP candidate himself. Alex Bregman will likely pass him in walks. Trout seems pretty certain to finish with his lead in all or most of the other categories intact. That’s an MVP resume even if he’ll only have played in 134 games. To give the award to anyone else would be an exercise in narrative over reason. Something born of a desire to reward a guy — like, say, Bregman — for playing on a winning team as opposed to his individual accomplishments. Sure, voters are allowed to do that, but they’ve mostly eschewed such tendencies in recent years. It’d be a surprise if they backslid.

Even if Yelich’s and Trout’s injuries aren’t likely to radically change the MVP race — again, I think the NL’s was Bellinger’s to lose — they’re both still lamentable separate and apart from the fact that all injuries stink. Lamentable in a way that, unfortunately, creates a downer for baseball as it gets ready for the postseason.

Bad for baseball- but, on the bright side, it’s given me an idea for what could be the great hit sitcom of our time…..

Christian Yelich exits with knee injury | MLB.com

All the Brewers could do was look on as reigning National League Most Valuable Player Award winner Christian Yelich sat in pain near home plate during his first at-bat of Tuesday night’s 4-3 win over Miami at Marlins Park. After the game, their worst fears were confirmed: Yelich sustained a broken right kneecap and will miss the remainder of the season, the team announced.

September Storylines to Follow as MLB’s Stretch Run Begins

If players are defined by what they do in October, their fates are often sealed in September. This is the month that makes postseason success possible. Divisions will be won, wild-card berths will be secured and MVP races will be decided. Here are the top storylines to follow as summer turns to fall.

1. The Last Division Race Standing

The NL Central was expected to be a three-team race all season, as the Cardinals, Cubs and Brewers expected to be in contention for the division title. St. Louis has been surging in the second half, when Paul Goldschmidt got hot and Jack Flaherty and Dakota Hudson emerged as a strong one-two rotation duo. Entering play Monday, the Cardinals (76-60) are three games ahead of Chicago in the division after winning eight of their last 10.

The Cubs (73-63), who hold a 2 1/2-game lead for the second wild-card, have been wildly inconsistent for much of the season. Their last three series (nine games) are the perfect example: They got swept at home by the Nationals, then swept the Mets at Citi Field before returning home to Wrigley Field and dropping two of three against Milwaukee. Offensive consistency has been a problem, as has an overworked bullpen with a less-effective Craig Kimbrel as the closer. Chicago is ultra talented, with a lineup anchored by a handful of all-stars. The Cubs are more than capable of rivaling the Cardinals for the division title, making the NL Central a worthy narrative to follow the rest of the way.

So, do we agree with these claims, or are there other stories that could emerge between now and the end of the regular season?

Prince, Cecil Fielder amazed by Christian Yelich: ‘There’s nowhere to get him out’

Prince and Cecil Fielder know a little bit about hitting.

The two players combined to hit 638 home runs in their careers, which spanned 25 MLB seasons, while making nine All-Star teams and winning six Silver Sluggers.

But as good as they were, they’re still amazed by Brewers outfielder and reigning National League MVP Christian Yelich.

“He’s been hot for like two years in a row now,” Prince Fielder told Omnisport. “That’s hard to do, I mean, he had the great MVP season last year and then to keep it going right into this season…he’s locked in.”

“Thin people can play baseball?”

Brewers’ Christian Yelich has become an absolute monster at Miller Park

Freaky. One home run from the record of most home runs in March/April. Nine more days are left in the month.

How easy? After hitting two more home runs Saturday night in the Brewers’ 5-0 victory at Miller Park, these are Yelich’s numbers in 13 home games: .435 batting average, 13 home runs, 29 runs batted in, 19 runs scored, 1.326 slugging percentage, 1.868 OPS.

The Cardinals keep pitching to Christian Yelich, and he keeps making them pay for it

A quirk of Yelich’s season so far…all his homers have been hit at home.

Yelich’s splits.

Christian Yelich hits three home runs after extra batting practice

Dude is 2018 NL MVP and in top ten in a lot of good categories and he’s not cool with the results