Christian Stephen Yelich (born December 5, 1991) is an American professional baseball left fielder and designated hitter for the Milwaukee Brewers of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the Miami Marlins. Internationally, Yelich represents the United States. In the 2017 World Baseball Classic (WBC), he helped win Team USA's first gold medal in a WBC tournament and was named to the All-World Baseball Classic Team.
The Marlins selected Yelich in the first round of the 2010 MLB draft. He made his MLB debut for the Marlins in 2013 and was traded to the Brewers in the 2017–18 offseason. Yelich is a three-time MLB All-Star, a three-time Silver Slugger Award winner, a two-time National League batting champion, a Gold Glove Award recipient in 2014, and the winner of the National League's Most Valuable Player Award in 2018.
Yelich hit for the cycle twice in 2018 and once in 2022. He joined Bob Meusel, Babe Herman, Adrián Beltré, and Trea Turner as the only players in MLB history to hit for the cycle three times. He is also the only player with three cycles against the same team — the Cincinnati Reds. Yelich was the third player to record two in a single season, joining Herman (1931) and Aaron Hill (2012).
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Career
Amateur career
Yelich was born in Thousand Oaks, California, and attended Westlake High School. During his freshman year, he batted .373 with 25 hits and 16 strikeouts in 67 at bats. In his sophomore year, he batted .341 with 31 hits and 24 strikeouts in 91 at bats During Yelich's junior year, he batted .489 with 46 hits and struck out six times. In his senior year, he batted .451 with 37 hits, nine strikeouts and nine home runs in 82 at bats. He was named Second Team All-American by Max Preps and was ranked 34 among the top 100 players in the nation in high school.
Yelich accepted a scholarship to play college baseball for the Miami Hurricanes baseball team.
Professional career
The Miami Marlins selected Yelich in the first round, with the 23rd overall selection, in the 2010 MLB draft. Yelich and the Marlins agreed to a $1.7 million signing bonus on August 17, shortly before the deadline to sign 2010 draftees was about to pass. Yelich played for the Gulf Coast League Marlins for six games, getting nine hits and seven strikeouts with a batting average of .375 before being advanced to Class-A. He played in six games for the Greensboro Grasshoppers in 2010, batting .348. In 2011, he batted .261 with 43 hits, six strikeouts, and four home runs. Yelich was named the Marlins' Minor League Player of the Year in both 2011 and 2012.
On July 23, 2013, the Marlins promoted Yelich to MLB from the Double-A Jacksonville Suns.
In the 2014 season, Yelich batted .284 with 21 steals out of the leadoff spot for the Miami Marlins. He also won a Gold Glove Award in left field, becoming the franchise's youngest ever player and first outfielder to win the award. During the season, Yelich set a franchise record for fielding percentage in left field, at .996. He served as the final out of Jordan Zimmermann's no-hitter on September 28, 2014, when Steven Souza Jr. made a diving play to save the no hitter.
Yelich and the Marlins finalized a seven-year, $49.57 million contract extension on March 22, 2015. He struggled to start the season, and was placed on the disabled list in April with lower back strain before making his return on May 8. His batting average reached a season low of .178 on May 22. In August, Yelich bruised his right knee and was again placed on the disabled list. Yelich had improved from his earlier offensive struggles and was hitting .275/.343/.376 with six home runs, 29 RBIs and 14 stolen bases up to that point in the season. Despite aggravating the injury shortly after his return, Yelich remained an active player for the quality of his bat. Near the end of the season, Yelich shared the field with Marcell Ozuna, the outfielder who had replaced him during his second stint on the disabled list. Yelich closed the 2015 season with a .300 average. For the season, he had the highest ground ball percentage (62.5%), and the lowest fly ball percentage (15.0%), of all major league hitters.
Yelich was projected to bat third to start 2016. He hit well in that spot, and managed to increase his power output. On April 23, in a game against the San Francisco Giants, Yelich hit three doubles, which tied a franchise record. Defensively, Yelich was a starting outfielder, alongside Ozuna and Giancarlo Stanton. In late May, Yelich missed some time due to back spasms. After Stanton was placed on the disabled list, Ozuna played Stanton's usual position in right field, while Yelich took Ozuna's spot in center on days that backup outfielder Ichiro Suzuki was unavailable.
International career
Yelich played for Team USA in the 2017 World Baseball Classic. He appeared in eight games during the tournament, posting a .310 batting average with four doubles and a .823 OPS. Team USA went on to defeat Puerto Rico in the championship game, securing their first-ever World Baseball Classic title. Following the conclusion of the tournament, he was named to the All-World Baseball Classic team.
On September 10, 2018, he was selected to play with the MLB All-Stars at the 2018 MLB Japan All-Star Series, but he later withdrew from the event.
Personal life
Yelich is the eldest child of Stephen and Alecia Yelich, and the great-grandson of American football player Fred Gehrke, who played for the Los Angeles Rams and the San Francisco 49ers. His uncle, Chris Yelich, played for the UCLA Bruins. He has two brothers: Collin, who played minor league baseball in the Braves organization, and Cameron, who is a member of the United States Marine Corps.
Yelich's paternal great-grandfather was a Serb from Trebinje, Bosnia and Herzegovina. Yelich was baptized in the Serbian Orthodox Church as Risto Šćepan Jelić (Serbian Cyrillic: Ристо Шћепан Јелић). His maternal grandfather was Japanese.
Yelich appeared (as himself) in an episode of Magnum P.I. that aired on March 4, 2019. His scene was with the 2018 Honolulu Little League World Champions in which he homers off a pitch from series protagonist Orville "Rick" Wright (played by Zachary Knighton). Yelich once invited Cleveland Browns quarterback and 2017 Heisman Trophy winner Baker Mayfield to Brewers batting practice.
Yelich grew up both as a fan of the Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Yankees.
Yelich owns property in Malibu, California. In October 2021, he purchased a $6.5 million home in Paradise Valley, Arizona, from NHL player Oliver Ekman-Larsson.
As of 2025 and 2026, Yelich is in a relationship with professional soccer player Paige Almendariz of DC Power FC.
In 2026, The Players Trust, the MLB Players Association's charitable arm, named Yelich its "Most Valuable Philanthropist." The award recognized Yelich's fundraising efforts through the annual Home Plate Charity Concert. Among the causes Yelich has supported are animal sanctuaries, college scholarships, and Milwaukee-focused nonprofits.