Christian Yelich

Christian Yelich (born December 5, 1991) is an American professional baseball left fielder for the Miami Marlins of Major League Baseball. Yelich was drafted out of high school by the Marlins in the 1st round (23rd overall) of the 2010 Major League Baseball Draft. He stands 6 feet 2 inches and weighs 190 pounds.

Career

Yelich is the oldest son of two Croatian immigrants, and attended Westlake High School. During his freshman year he batted .373 with 25 hits and 16 strikeouts out of 67 at bats. In his sophomore year he batted .341 with 31 hits and 24 strikeouts out of 91 AB. During Yelich's junior year he batted .489 and hit 46 times and struck out 6 times. In his senior year he batted .451 with 37 hits, 9 strikeouts and 9 home runs out of 82 at-bats. He was awarded Second Team All-American by Max Preps and was ranked 34 among the top 100 players in the nation in high school.

Yelich was drafted by the Marlins in 2010 with a $1.7 million signing bonus. He played for the GCL Marlins for 6 games, getting 9 hits and 7 strikeouts with a batting average .375 before being advanced to class A. He played in 6 games for the Greensboro Grasshoppers in 2010, batting .348. In 2011 he batted .261 with 43 hits, 6 strikeouts and 4 home runs.