The Milwaukee Brewers activated Christian Yelich from the injured list Tuesday after the outfielder/designated hitter had missed a month with an adductor strain.
The 34-year-old Yelich last played April 12. The 2018 NL MVP and three-time All-Star is hitting .314 with one home run, 10 RBIs and three steals in 15 games this season.
"It's obviously frustrating when you're not out there and not able to contribute," Yelich said Tuesday. "I'm definitely glad to be back."
He is coming off a 2025 season in which he played 150 games -- his second-highest total since joining the Brewers in 2018 -- after back issues had limited him for multiple years.
The Brewers went 14-9 while Yelich was out, including a three-game sweep of the New York Yankees last weekend.
"The guys did a great job," Yelich said. "They've been playing well. Hopefully I'll be able to contribute to that a little bit."
Yelich's return could provide a power surge to a lineup that entered Tuesday with a big league-low 26 homers. Although the Brewers entered Tuesday ranked eighth in runs (195) and fifth in on-base percentage (.333), they were 28th in slugging percentage (.353).
In a related roster move, the Brewers (22-16), who are tied for second place in the National League Central entering Tuesday's series opener against the San Diego Padres, optioned first baseman/outfielder Tyler Black to Triple-A Nashville.
Black, 25, had hit .333 with a .357 on-base percentage, no homers and seven RBIs in nine games with Milwaukee.
Brewers manager Pat Murphy said before Tuesday's game that "we're still finding ourselves" and that "we're still understanding what kind of offense we need to be."
"We've faced some really good pitching, if you think about it, some of the best in the major leagues," Murphy said. "So I think it's hard to evaluate it by numbers in those small increments. But certainly we weren't as confident as we've been at times. I think it's good timing that Yeli's back because our road is very, very difficult."
Brewers pitcher Quinn Priester, who has yet to make his debut this season as he recovers from a nerve issue in his wrist, will restart his rehab assignment Saturday after he threw 50 pitches in live batting practice on Monday without issues.
Priester had a breakthrough season last year after the Brewers acquired him from the Boston Red Sox in early April. He went 13-3 with a 3.32 ERA in 29 appearances, including 24 starts. Priester won 12 straight decisions at one point, and the Brewers won 19 straight games (16 starts and three appearances following an opener) in which he pitched.
In other injury news, the Brewers estimated that outfielder Brandon Lockridge could return in mid to late June. Lockridge sustained a major cut and bruise to his right knee while sliding into foul territory in the fourth inning Friday as he tried to catch a fly ball.
"There's some other testing we want to get done, so we're going to get another scan done to make sure that there's no further bruising of the bone and that type of thing," Murphy said. "It takes a while for the swelling and everything to calm down. He's got another test to go through, but we're anticipating somewhere around a month, maybe six weeks."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
