Christian Yelich Fractures Kneecap With Foul Ball, Is Done For The Season

Well, this blows. The Milwaukee Brewers are very much in the hunt for the second National League Wild Card spot, trailing the Cubs by just a game and a half. But their pursuit from this point on will no longer include the services of reigning NL MVP Christian Yelich, who has been ruled out for the remainder of the season with a fractured right kneecap.

This happened in an infuriatingly unlucky fluke accident. In the first inning of Tuesday night’s 4–3 win over the Marlins, Yelich fouled an inside pitch hard off his right knee and went down in a heap. He was obviously in a ton of pain, and needed a while and several tries before he was able to eventually get to his feet and limp off.

The Brewers aren’t the buzzsaw they were in the second half last season, so you might’ve missed the fact that Yelich actually meaningfully improved on last year’s MVP campaign almost across the board. His batting average (.330), on-base percentage (.430), slugging percentage (.672), dingers (40), stolen bases (30), and fWAR (7.7) are all new career highs, and he’s tied his career high in walks (80). Apart from how devastating his loss is likely to be for the Brewers, it’s extremely shitty news for people who like to watch baseball games.