22 reasons Christian Yelich is better than your favorite player

For fans of eight teams (and, for a quick minute early on, 10) the postseason is the best part of the baseball calendar. The players you’ve grown attached to throughout the regular season get to shine, and maybe even some late August call-ups get to be the heroes of a tight series and be forever beloved by the fan base.

It’s a chance for electric personalities, talented players, and unlikely stars truly emerge. So for every playoff team, we’re picking one of the most exciting players to watch and explaining why we love them so much. Here’s why we love Christian Yelich.

1. He openly admits he’s a Florida Panthers fan even though they’re almost never good.

2. He has a pretty high bar for friendship, which is fair if you have a World Baseball Classic win under your belt.

3. He hit for the cycle this year against the Reds.

4. Then he hit for the cycle again. Also against the Reds.

5. He wears a Care Bear onesie and makes it look ... stylish?

6. He correctly calls Ichiro a legend. If you don’t think he’s a legend, you’re the cops.

7. He and Saturday Night Live’s Pete Davidson look a lot alike.

8. His grandfather designed the Los Angeles Rams’ logo and is considered the person who made it popular to put logos on helmets.

9. Baker Mayfield is his biggest fan.

10. He’s heard the joke about Pete Davidson. He knows.

11. He’s comfortable wearing makeup.

12. He has fun with Jose Altuve’s size too. Just like the rest of us.

13. He was the youngest person in Marlins’ franchise history to win a Gold Glove when he did it in 2014.

14. Did we mention he and Pete Davidson look a lot alike? Pretty cool!

15. Somehow he can still pull off swim shorts and slides in his 20’s without looking like he’s trying to hang on to his teenage years for as long as possible.

16. He can take a pie to the face without flinching.

17. And then be fine just hanging out with a face full of shaving cream, no problem.

18. Yelich hitting 20 homers or more in 2017 meant a local radio host had to eat crow. Yelich watched and smiled (good naturedly) as he did it.

19. He’s not perfect in the outfield.

20. But he can handle a bobble with the best of them.

21. Fans have literally painted him because they love him so much.

22. Even he’s not immune to being a little bored watching baseball sometimes.