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PHOENIX (AP) — Christian Yelich had waited around long enough. He was ready to get back to work.The reigning NL MVP arrived at the Milwaukee Brewers‘ spring training facility Friday morning Victor Martinez Jersey , four days before the team’s first scheduled full-squad workout, set to build on a memorable 2018 season.“It’s nice to get out here a couple of days early, get everything set up and organized,” Yelich said. “I’m ready to start playing some baseball again.”Thanks to the Brewers’ deep postseason run, Yelich’s offseason was shorter than he’s used. Because of his personal success, much of the time he’d normally spend resting, recovering and preparing for the next season was spent fulfilling other duties and obligations, such as a trip to New York to accept the MVP award.Still, Yelich insists that he, and the team, will be ready to go when the regular season gets underway late next month.“Just to be back in this room and get those feelings of spring training … I think there’s a lot of excitement at this time of year for not only myself but everybody,” the outfielder said. “Everybody has the excitement of a new season, and you really never know what you’re going to see in these next seven or eight months. I found out firsthand last year.”Yelich was the new kid on the block for Milwaukee last year. Acquired from Miami in a trade in late January, he spent his first few days of camp just trying to learn his new teammates’ names. Before long, he established himself as a household name in Milwaukee after batting an NL-best .326 with 36 home runs, 110 RBIs and a 1.000 OPS.No longer a Brewers newcomer, Yelich still had to adjust to new surroundings when he reported to camp. The Brewers razed and rebuilt their spring training complex over the last year, complete with a brand new http://www.tigersfanproshop.com/authentic-joe-jimenez-jersey , expansive clubhouse along with improved workout and treatment facilities.“Our new facility is amazing,” Yelich said. “It’s great to be back and I’m excited for the year.”Figuring out where to go over the next six weeks isn’t the only challenge Yelich faces this season. His performance last year set the bar high for 2019, especially the 1.307 OPS he posted during the month of September, when the Brewers wiped out a five-game deficit before clinching the NL Central crown by beating the Cubs in a winner-take-all Game 163 at Wrigley Field.It would be easy for any young player, especially one as talented as the 27-year-old Yelich, to consider any kind of drop-off in numbers to be something of a letdown. Manager Craig Counsell has already stressed the importance on focusing on what’s next, instead of looking back at what’s happened, and he’s made sure to discuss that topic specifically with Yelich.“Sometimes, chasing the past, for any player, can get you in trouble,” Counsell said. “It’s the combination of ‘I have something different in front of me’ with the experience that puts you in a good place. That’s exactly the place I think he is in.”Yelich is embracing Counsell’s message and is well aware of the challenge in front of him in 2019.“A lot of people’s favorite words in baseball right now are ‘regression’ and ‘coming back to the mean’ or whatever you want to say,” Yelich said. “I hope that’s not the case. I don’t plan on it being the case. I think you just prepare the way you’ve always prepared and go about the game the same way and see where you stand at the end of the year.” CLEVELAND — The Cleveland Indians are in that rarest of positions: it’s early September, but they are already preparing for October. Such is the luxury enjoyed by a team leading its division by 14 games.The American League Central-leading Indians are 14 games ahead of the second-place Minnesota Twins. So the Indians, who host Kansas City on Monday afternoon at Progressive Field, will use most of this month to prepare for postseason baseball.The Indians added Josh Donaldson to their active roster. However, Donaldson, acquired from Toronto in a trade on Aug. 31 James McCann Jersey , won’t see any action against the Royals, who have won five in a row.Article continues below ...Donaldson is still rehabbing a calf strain. That means Indians second baseman Jason Kipnis, who will become the odd man out in the infield once Donaldson starts playing, remains at second base.It’s a challenging situation for Kipnis, who made a statement of sorts Saturday, when in his first at-bat after learning he was going to eventually lose his job to Donaldson, belted a pinch-home run.The 31-year-old Kipnis, a career .268 hitter at the start of this season, has hit in the .220s for most of this year, with career lows in most offensive categories. He’s a two-time All-Star who has spent eight years in Cleveland. But the plan, once Donaldson starts playing, is he takes over at third base, moving Jose Ramirez to second, and Kipnis will compete for playing time in center field with Greg Allen.“He’ll start taking balls in center field (during batting practice) and at some point we’ll put him out there and see how it looks,” Indians manager Terry Francona said of Kipnis. “He’s a pretty good competitor.”Indians president Chris Antonetti applauded Ramirez’s unselfishness.“It’s not often that you see an MVP candidate being asked to change positions during the season, but Jose has been great about it,” Antonetti said.With Donaldson not yet ready to play, the Indians’ lineup on Monday against the Royals will be the one they’ve used most of the season — with Kipnis at second and Ramirez at third.On the mound for Cleveland will be right-hander Adam Plutko (4-4 http://www.tigersfanproshop.com/authentic-joe-jimenez-jersey , 4.94 ERA), who will make his first career appearance against Kansas City. In Plutko’s last start, he received a no-decision in the Indians’ 4-3 loss to the Twins on Aug. 29.In that game, Plutko pitched 5 1/3 innings, giving up two runs and five hits with five strikeouts and two walks.Plutko hasn’t won a game since June 24. In six appearances (four starts) since then, he is 0-3 with a 5.27 ERA.Kansas City’s starter will be right-hander Jakob Junis (7-12, 4.53), who is coming off the first complete game of his career in his last start on Aug. 28. In a 6-2 win over Detroit, Junis pitched nine innings while throwing 104 pitches, allowing two runs and six hits, with seven strikeouts and no walks.Junis’ last start against Cleveland was a 9-3 loss on July 2. He pitched 5 1/3 innings, allowing nine runs (eight earned) with eight hits, two strikeouts and one walk.In two starts against the Indians this year, Junis is 0-2 with a 9.82 ERA. In four career appearances (three starts) vs. Cleveland, he is 0-2 with an 8.05 ERA.Before Sunday’s game, the Indians activated right-hander Neil Ramirez off the disabled list.