President Donald Trump says he plans to issue “a complete PARDON of Pete Rose,” baseball’s late career hits leader who was banned from MLB and the Hall of Fame for sports betting.

Trump posted on Truth Social on Friday night to say Rose, who died in September at 83, “shouldn’t have been gambling on baseball, but only bet on HIS TEAM WINNING.”

Trump did not specifically mention Rose’s tax case in which Rose pleaded guilty in 1990 to two counts of filing false tax returns and served a five-month prison sentence.

The president said he would sign a pardon for Rose “over the next few weeks.”

MLB and Rose agreed to a permanent ban in 1989 after an investigation determined he had bet on games involving the Cincinnati Reds from 1985-87 while playing for and managing the team. The Hall of Fame board of directors in 1991 adopted a rule preventing people on the permanently ineligible list from appearing on the hall ballot.

Yelich plays for first time since surgery

Milwaukee Brewers outfielder Christian Yelich took a step forward Saturday in his return from back surgery by playing in a game for the first time since July.

Yelich was the designated hitter for the Brewers’ 9-4 Cactus League victory over the Texas Rangers. The 2018 NL MVP went 0 for 3 with two strikeouts and an RBI.

“It was just cool to be out there, honestly, because it’s a long road from the last time I did it,” Yelich told reporters afterward. “Honestly, that was a victory in itself for me today.”

The 33-year-old Yelich had last played in a game on July 23. He went on the injured list later that month and underwent a diskectomy in August to remove the damaged part of a disk in the spine.

His back issues ended a season in which Yelich earned his third All-Star Game selection. Yelich batted .315 with a .406 on-base percentage, .504 slugging percentage, 11 homers, 42 RBIs and 21 steals in 73 games. He was leading the NL in batting average and on-base percentage at the time of his injury.

Yelich expects to be available for the start of the season. His presence in Saturday’s lineup was a step in the right direction.

“I honestly didn’t care what the results were at all,” Yelich said. “Just find out where you’re at and go from there. I thought there were some good things, some things that weren’t too good. But it was basically how I expected it to be, and my body felt good. That was pretty much the biggest concern of the day.”

Stanton will open season on injured list

New York Yankees slugger Giancarlo Stanton will begin the season on the injured list because of elbow injuries.

Stanton has received platelet-rich plasma injections in both of his elbows, according to the New York Post. He has been away from the team while dealing with a personal matter, but he is expected to rejoin the Yankees in Tampa in the next week.

The 35-year-old Stanton hit .233 with 27 homers and 72 RBIs in 114 games last season.