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Brewers outfielder Christian Yelich hits for his second cycle in less than a month

Chris Cwik
·Staff writer

It’s too early to say the Milwaukee Brewers won the Christian Yelich trade, but the Milwaukee Brewers definitely won the Christian Yelich trade. The 26-year-old continued to justify the deal Monday, hitting for his second cycle in less than a month.

Yelich wasted no time getting things started against the Cincinnati Reds. He singled in the first inning to kick things off. In the third inning, Yelich picked up his double. The home run came next. Yelich belted a two-run homer off Anthony DeSclafani in the fifth inning.

All that was left was a triple. That, too, came quickly. In his next at-bat, Yelich lined a ball to the gap between center and right field and turned on the jets. Billy Hamilton got to the ball quickly and fired it to the cut-off man, but the Reds threw the ball home to try and prevent Curtis Granderson from scoring. That allowed Yelich to glide into third easily to complete the cycle.

Christian Yelich has hit for the cycle once again. (AP Photo/Aaron Gash)
Christian Yelich has hit for the cycle once again. (AP Photo/Aaron Gash)

If all of this sounds familiar, it should. On Aug. 28, Yelich hit for the cycle … against the Cincinnati Reds. Yes, Yelich hit for two cycles against the same team in less than a month.

It’s the first time since 2012 that one player has hit for two cycles in one season.

Coming into Monday’s game, Yelich was hitting .313/.381/.556, with 30 home runs. Those numbers have gone up during the contest.

That performance has many wondering whether Yelich should be the MVP in the National League. He came into the contest leading the NL with a 5.7 fWAR.

The competition for the award should be stiff. Yelich, Lorenzo Cain, Paul Goldschmidt, Anthony Rendon, Javier Baez, Nolan Arenado and Matt Carpenter have all compiled at least 5.0 fWAR in 2018. That’s not the be-all, end-all stat when it comes to awards, but it gives you an idea of how tight things are at the top of the NL.

Hitting for two cycles in a season could be the tie-breaker that pushes Yelich past everyone else for some voters.

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Chris Cwik is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at christophercwik@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!

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