Brewers GM Stearns: Yelich won't need surgery

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There’s some good news, relatively speaking, in regards to Christian Yelich and his season-ending surgery.

Milwaukee general manager David Stearns told reporters Thursday that Yelich probably will not need surgery for his fractured right patella, and his timeline for recovery is “likely 8-to-10 weeks.” The Brewers star will get a second opinion, Stearns added.



“We do not anticipate any long-term effects, which is the best news of all,” Stearns said. “… It looks like we dodged a little bit of a bullet.”

Yelich fouled a ball off his knee in Tuesday’s game in the first inning and left the game. The Brewers announced after the game that last year’s MVP would be out for the season.

“He hits the ball really hard, he squares it up,” Stearns said, “and unfortunately he squared it up right into his knee. That doesn’t happen a lot in baseball.”

In 130 games this season Yelich had a slash line of .329/.429/.671 with a career-high 44 home runs and 30 steals as well as 100 runs and 97 RBI.

Last year, Yelich was named the National League MVP after hitting .326/.402/.598 with 36 homers, 118 runs, 110 RBI and 22 steals.

Entering Thursday’s series finale in Miami, the Brewers are tied with the Chicago Cubs for the second wild-card spot.