CHICAGO (AP) 鈥� The Milwaukee Brewers were bracing for the possibility that Christian Yelich misses significant time after placing the All-Star outfielder on the 10-day injured list Wednesday because of inflammation in his lower back.
Yelich is scheduled to see a spine specialist on Thursday to figure out his next steps, including whether he needs season-ending surgery.
鈥淓verybody plays through stuff, but sometimes, you just can't,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hat's kind of where we're at at this point. Your body won't cooperate with you. For me, aside from when I broke my knee, this has been the one thing that I've had to deal with. It's frustrating. I've dealt with it a lot during my career.鈥�
Yelich's back has been bothering him for weeks and worsened in recent days. The move to the injured list comes one day after he exited a game against the Chicago Cubs.
鈥淗e鈥檚 been an offensive machine, the attitude he brings,鈥� manager Pat Murphy said. 鈥淗e tried like heck to play injured for a while. Hopefully, we can get him back.鈥�
Asked how concerned he is that Yelich won't return this season, Murphy said: 鈥淲orry is kind of a waste of time, so I'm trying to not worry. You really end up wasting time worrying. Just get busy, get busy living.鈥�
The Brewers also reinstated catcher Gary S谩nchez from the IL on Wednesday.
Yelich, 32, has enjoyed a resurgent season for the NL Central-leading Brewers. He earned his third All-Star Game appearance and leads the NL in batting average (.315) and on-base percentage (.406). He also has 11 homers, 42 RBIs and 21 steals in 73 games.
But he has gone 0 for 9 since the All-Star break and is 1 for 19 over his last six games. He was 0 for 1 with two walks in a over the Cubs on Tuesday before getting removed for a pinch hitter in the eighth inning.
鈥淚 was doing nobody any good out there,鈥� Yelich said. 鈥淚 kind of just decided that there were big at-bats late in the game, I was definitely not the right person to do that. Being stubborn and going out there wasn't gonna do anybody any good.鈥�
S谩nchez, 31, has been out for the last month with a calf strain. He is batting .218 with a .293 on-base percentage, seven homers and 21 RBIs in 51 games.
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AP MLB:
Andrew Seligman, The Associated Press
