After a modest start to the season, the Milwaukee Brewers have finally found their groove after the MLB All-Star break. Other than a four-day stint at the end of July and the beginning of August, the Brewers have held down the top spot in the National League Central for the last two months. The team's divisional lead has reached as high as five games during that stretch, with the current margin being four-and-a-half games over rivals the Chicago Cubs. With a little over two weeks left in the season, this is hardly an insurmountable lead, but one that the Brewers will feel somewhat comfortable with.

Still, Milwaukee has a three-game series at home against the Cubs to finish out the campaign, plus seven more games against division rivals the St. Louis Cardinals, who — despite being out of playoff contention — would like nothing more than to ruin the Brewers' season. With the Cubs still in close pursuit, here is one Brewers player who must step up down the stretch to ensure that the Brewers stay atop the NL Central.

Christian Yelich

Despite what his detractors will say, Christian Yelich has been a very good player for the Brewers this year. He will never be the MVP candidate that he once was in 2018 and 2019, but Yeli is still the elite leadoff top-of-the-order man that the Brewers thought they were getting when they acquired him from the Miami Marlins in 2018. The left fielder is currently posting four-year highs in every statistical category this season and could still finish with 20 home runs and 30 stolen bases.

Yelich was especially prolific in the middle third of the season, batting .327 with a (dare I say it?) MVP-like OPS of .963 across June and July. The Brewers outfielder has cooled off considerably since then, batting just .225 since the start of August and only .193 with a .583 OPS in his last 22 appearances. He has one home run during this stretch while dealing with some chronic back issues.

Much of the Brewers outfield has been quiet of late. Rookie Sal Frelick has cooled off after a hot start, fellow first-year player Joey Wiemer has not consistently demonstrated an ability to make things happen at the plate, and the streaky Tyrone Taylor has seemingly lost his home-run power this year. The only Milwaukee outfielder to hit well as of late is trade deadline acquisition Mark Canha, who is batting .303 with an OPS of .853 in 36 games with the Brewers since joining from the New York Mets.

It is unrealistic to expect Frelick, Wiemer, and Taylor to suddenly become .300 hitters with all sorts of power, or for Blake Perkins or Garrett Mitchell to immediately hit the ground running when (and if) they return from the injured list. But the Brewers will need more production from Chrisitan Yelich — the most important member of their outfield — especially in a lineup that is often so pieced together. Canha and catcher William Contreras have both been hot as of late, yet their effect is limited when Yelich is not getting on base in the leadoff spot.

Hot hitting from the rest of the lineup plus continued quality pitching from the starting rotation should keep the Brewers at the top of the NL Central, but if Milwaukee wants to pull away in the division and make a deep run in the playoffs, it will need improved offensive production from star outfielder Christian Yelich.