StaTuesday: Yelich adds to resume with another rare stat line
We’re not too sure how many more ways we can say how fabulous of a season Christian Yelich is having or how incredible are the numbers he’s putting up.
But here’s one more attempt.
The Milwaukee Brewers played their 65th game on Saturday, a 5-3 win over Pittsburgh. In that contest, Yelich went 1-for-3 with a double.
That gave Yelich 10 doubles on the season -- and it also allowed him to join yet another exclusive club.
It’s just the 13th time a player in major-league history posted at least 10 doubles, 20 home runs and 10 steals by his team’s 65th game. In his case, Yelich had those 10 doubles as well as 23 home runs and 14 stolen bases while playing in 58 of those 65 games.
For a little context, according to stat maven Doug Kern, only four Brewers had reached 10 doubles, 10 homers and 10 steals through 65 games in franchise history (Tommy Harper in 1970, Paul Molitor in 1992, Ryan Braun from 2010-12 and Carlos Gomez in both 2013 and ’14). No Brewers players had ever amassed 10+ doubles, 20+ homers and 10+ steals through Milwaukee’s first 65 games.
Yelich became the first major leaguer to accomplish the feat since Curtis Granderson in 2011. He’s only the 11th player to record a 10-20-10 in a team’s first 65 games.
| PLAYER | YEAR | TEAM | G | 2B | HR | SB |
| Willie Mays | 1962 | Giants | 65 | 14 | 21 | 10 |
| Darryl Strawberry | 1987 | Mets | 64 | 13 | 20 | 11 |
| Eric Davis | 1987 | Reds | 55 | 11 | 20 | 28 |
| Ken Griffey Jr. | 1996 | Mariners | 64 | 13 | 23 | 10 |
| Sammy Sosa | 1996 | Cubs | 65 | 11 | 21 | 11 |
| Frank Thomas | 1996 | White Sox | 65 | 15 | 20 | 10 |
| Alex Rodriguez | 1998 | Mariners | 65 | 11 | 22 | 14 |
| Sammy Sosa | 1998 | Cubs | 62 | 11 | 20 | 10 |
| Ken Griffey Jr. | 1999 | Mariners | 64 | 12 | 24 | 10 |
| Jeff Bagwell | 1999 | Astros | 65 | 16 | 22 | 12 |
| Alfonso Soriano | 2006 | Nationals | 65 | 12 | 23 | 15 |
| Curtis Granderson | 2011 | Yankees | 65 | 11 | 21 | 10 |
| Christian Yelich | 2019 | Brewers | 58 | 10 | 23 | 14 |
Yelich is currently tied for the National League lead in steals with 14. Only two other Milwaukee players have led the league in stolen bases – Scott Podsednik in 2004 and Jonathan Villar in 2016.
Only Braun (2012), Prince Fielder (2007) and Gorman Thomas (1979) have outright led the league in home runs. Chris Carter (2016), Thomas (1982) and Ben Oglivie (1981) all tied for the league lead.
Further, only three players have ever led (or tied for the lead) in home runs and stolen bases in the same season:
Brooklyn’s Jimmy Sheckard with nine HR and 67 SB in 1903.
Philadelphia’s Chuck Klein with 38 and 20 in 1932.
And some guy named Ty Cobb, with nine and 76 in 1909.
We’d say that’d be some pretty good company and, yes, just further evidence of how incredible Yelich has been.
Dave Heller is the author of Ken Williams: A Slugger in Ruth's Shadow (a Larry Ritter Book Award nominee), Facing Ted Williams - Players From the Golden Age of Baseball Recall the Greatest Hitter Who Ever Lived and As Good As It Got: The 1944 St. Louis Browns
