Christian Yelich Ruled Out vs. Cubs After Suffering Oblique Injury vs. Cardinals

Milwaukee Brewers outfielder Christian Yelich suffered an oblique injury in Wednesday's game against the St. Louis Cardinals and will not play Thursday against the Chicago Cubs.

Adam McCalvy‏ of MLB.com reported the news. Yelich left the game in the seventh inning. 

Yelich was traded to the Brewers in January as part of the Miami Marlins' offseason overhaul. He arrived in Milwaukee coming off two straight seasons where he posted an OPS over .800 with a combined 39 homers and 25 stolen bases between 2016 and 2017.

The 26-year-old California native has also remained mostly durable in recent years. After being limited to 126 games because of injury during the 2015 campaign, he missed 13 total games over his final two seasons with the Marlins.

If the current ailment forces him to miss time, the Brewers will probably split duties between Hernan Perez and Eric Thames in left field. It's a solid backup tandem that should allow the offense to avoid a major drop-off in productivity.

That said, Yelich is an important asset if Milwaukee wants to make some serious noise in the National League. He should slot right back into a full-time starting role once healthy.