Brewers' Christian Yelich plays for first time since back surgery

PHOENIX - Milwaukee Brewers outfielder Christian Yelich took a step forward Saturday in his return from back surgery by playing in a game for the first time since July.

By the numbers:

Yelich was the designated hitter for the Brewers’ 9-4 Cactus League victory over the Texas Rangers. The 2018 NL MVP went 0 for 3 with two strikeouts and an RBI.

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"It was just cool to be out there, honestly, because it’s a long road from the last time I did it," Yelich told reporters afterward. "Honestly, that was a victory in itself for me today."

The backstory:

The 33-year-old Yelich had last played in a game on July 23. He went on the injured list later that month and underwent a diskectomy in August to remove the damaged part of a disk in the spine.

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His back issues ended a season in which Yelich earned his third All-Star Game selection. Yelich batted .315 with a .406 on-base percentage, .504 slugging percentage, 11 homers, 42 RBIs and 21 steals in 73 games. He was leading the NL in batting average and on-base percentage at the time of his injury.

Big picture view:

The Brewers could use a big season from Yelich as they adjust to the loss of shortstop Willy Adames, who signed a seven-year, $182 million contract with the San Francisco Giants after hitting 32 homers and driving in 112 runs for Milwaukee in 2024.

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What's next:

Yelich expects to be available for the start of the season. His presence in Saturday’s lineup was a step in the right direction.

"I honestly didn’t care what the results were at all," Yelich said. "Just find out where you’re at and go from there. I thought there were some good things, some things that weren’t too good. But it was basically how I expected it to be, and my body felt good. That was pretty much the biggest concern of the day."