This ex-Marlin went from the basement to the penthouse in six months time

If Christian Yelich doesn’t see J.T. Realmuto at the ballpark before the Brewers leave town, he hopes to catch up with his former teammate and closest friend on the Marlins in the hospital maternity ward over the next couple of days.

“It’s only fitting he had a kid when I came back into town,” Yelich said of Realmuto, who was placed on the paternity list on Monday in order to be with his wife for the birth for their first child.

Realmuto could miss the entire three-game series with Milwaukee.

But, at the very least, Yelich and Realmuto will be together next week in Washington D.C. for their first All-Star Game, something both dreamed about as young minor leaguers and on up into the majors.

They just won’t be going together as Marlins after four years in Miami as teammates. Yelich was traded to the Brewers in January, turning their friendship as Marlins into a long-distance one.

“We were talking yesterday about how it would be special to share our first All-Star Game experience together,” said Yelich, who exchanged phone texts with Realmuto during Sunday’s All-Star selection process.

“It’s only fitting,” Yelich said, “because we have so many memorable moments in our baseball careers together, coming up through the minor leagues together, getting drafted the same year (in 2010), going to rookie ball at the same time, being rookies in the big leagues together, going through all those ups and down.”

They were teammates at Low A Greensboro, High A Jupiter and Double A Jacksonville. Yelich made his big-league debut with the Marlins in 2013, one year before Realmuto did the same.

They shared an apartment in South Florida, talking baseball and life after wins and tough losses, until Realmuto married last year and Yelich found a place of his own.

Now they’re world’s apart in the standings, with Yelich on the first-place Brewers, who own the best record in the National League, and Realmuto still with the last-place Marlins, who have the worst record in the N.L.

“It’s been fun,” Yelich said of his initial months with the Brewers after spending five seasons with the Marlins. “It’s been fun coming to the ballpark everyday. It’s been a great atmosphere, not just in the clubhouse, but also when we’re at home at Miller Park.”

But Yelich said he also enjoyed his time in Miami even though the Marlins never once finished with a winning record during his time there.

“I really did enjoy my five years here,” Yelich said. “There were special moments, lots of ups and downs, great memories. There will be some emotions -- strange feelings -- for maybe that first at bat (on Monday).”

Yelich sees a Marlins team now that reminds him of the one he first played with in 2013, a rebuilding franchise with a young cast of players.

“They definitely have some talent,” Yelich said. “It just takes a while for it to all come together. But I think it’s going to be very similar to what we had, as far as everyone coming up together, learning to play with each other. It should be fun.”

Yelich said he also remains in touch with Giancarlo Stanton, Marcell Ozuna and Dee Gordon, former Marlins teammates who were each traded last winter.

“We had some (good) teams,” Yelich said. “We held it together for a while. It just didn’t work out for us (in Miami).”

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In addition to placing Realmuto on the paternity list, the Marlins made a number of other roster moves Monday.

Reliever Drew Rucinski was placed on the 10-day disabled list with a groin injury while right-handed pitcher Caleb Smith underwent season-ending shoulder surgery and was transferred to the 60-day DL.

The Marlins recalled catcher Chad Wallach from Triple A New Orleans and selected the contract of right-handed reliever Javy Guerra.

Realmuto is only expected to miss two or three games.

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Manager Don Mattingly said he was surprised Realmuto wasn’t selected to the All-Star team by the players, who voted for Giants catcher Buster Posey.

(Fans voted for the Cubs’ Willson Contreras to be the N.L.’s starting catcher).

“That surprised me for sure,” Mattingly said. “It shocked me, actually, because the players, they wanted the vote, because they felt like the best players sometimes weren’t getting in. I think a lot of people would argue that J.T. should be starting this game, with his numbers and what he’s accomplished this year.”

But players were required to turn in their votes three weeks ago, something a few would like changed.

“I can tell you there’s two things wrong with the system,” said Marlins reliever Brad Ziegler. “We vote too soon and it’s antiquated. It’s check a box on a piece of paper, stick it in an envelope and send it back to them.”

Ziegler said it would be better if the players voted later in the process and used a system that was more technologically advanced in making their selections.

This story was originally published July 9, 2018 at 5:53 PM.