CHICAGO — The injury is familiar but Christian Yelich’s tone this time around was not.

Yelich, speaking from the visitors' clubhouse at Wrigley Field about the back injury that landed him on the 10-day injured list Wednesday morning, discussed the ailment that has bothered him on and off for years in more serious, ominous terms than usual.

While the Brewers officially called the injury lower back inflammation, and manager Pat Murphy indicated Tuesday there is a nerve issue involved, Yelich did not want to divulge specifics about the injury or offer any sort of timeline.

But Yelich did indicate he will see a specialist in Milwaukee in the coming days and, after that, seemingly every option is on the table.

“Go from there, as far as what's gonna be the best for the near future and into the future,” Yelich said. “So a couple of different discussions I think that need to be had. And kind of try to see where we're going from that.”

Yelich missed nearly a month earlier in the season with a similar flare-up in his back during a game in Baltimore. He also missed time with back problems each of the previous three seasons, including IL time on multiple occasions.

Yelich experienced the latest flare-up leading up to the all-star break but tried to play through it. In a 1-for-20 stretch heading into the eighth inning Tuesday, Yelich ultimately accepted he was only doing harm and was taken out of the game.

“It’s been feeling pretty bad for a few days,” Yelich said. “Was trying to figure out how to get through it and realized I couldn’t — and can’t.”

While back injuries can be more difficult to address in nature, Yelich confirmed this flare-up is similar to the one he experienced in April.

“I don’t really want to get into the specifics of it, but, yeah, not great,” Yelich said.

Could it be a lengthy absence?

“Potentially,” Yelich responded.

Manager Pat Murphy offered similar comments about the potential severity.

"Dealing with what you’re dealing with there in the back can be serious," Murphy said. "He’s dealt with this before and he’s gotten through it, so hopefully we can get through it."

Yelich had returned to an all-star level in 2024, batting a league-leading .315 with a .909 OPS, which makes this time only more frustrating for the outfielder.

“It's kind of held me back a little,” Yelich said. “That’s where it's frustrating. What are you gonna do? But also, there's a potential that we finally get on the other side of this, maybe, when this is all said and done. We’ll see.”

The loss of Yelich comes a week before the trade deadline, which would at least give the Brewers some time to address his absence with an external acquisition, but that's far easier said than done.

"What do you suggest we do, go get Vlad (Guerrero) Jr.?" Murphy said. "I mean, for what Yeli does for this lineup and this clubhouse, I don’t know there’s too many players who can replace him. I mean that. He’s got a special niche here with us. It’s a huge loss, and we’ve had some huge losses this year. I can name their names if you would like me to repeat the list.

"But this is huge, no matter how serious. Whatever number of games we lose him for, it’s serious.”

After the Brewers’ win over the Cubs on Wednesday, national baseball writer Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reported on X that sources have told him Yelich may require season-ending surgery on his back.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Brewers' Christian Yelich goes on injured list with lower back injury