Brewers facing another injury crisis that could leave door open for the Cubs

The Milwaukee Brewers won eight of their first ten games, forcing Chicago Cubs fans to fear that the Brewers were once again getting ready to run away with the division lead. As the Cubs have gone through their woes, so have the Brewers. Since their hot start, the Brewers have lost five consecutive games and are now preparing for bad news surrounding Christian Yelich.

Yelich was removed from the Brewers' game on Sunday in the fifth inning with a hamstring injury. After the game, Brewers manager Patrick Murphy told reporters that the team is expecting bad news.

The Brewers have proved to be the team that can thrive the most when the odds are stacked against them. At the start of this season, they were dealt the loss of Jackson Chourio and Andrew Vaughn. Chourio has been taking part in base running and fielding drills, but has yet to be cleared to swing a bat. Vaughn is expected to remain sidelined for the next few weeks as he continues to regain his strength.

With Chourio and Vaugn out, Yelich has been the one carrying Milwaukee's offense. Through his first 56 plate appearances, the 34-year-old is slashing .314/.375/.451 with a wRC+ of 128. Keeping Yelich healthy has been one of the keys to the Brewers' offense, and it's why he's been serving as the team's designated hitter over the last two years.

No, the Brewers aren't running away from the Cubs.

The Cubs have left a lot to be desired with their play through the first two weeks of the regular season. Despite all that has gone wrong for the Cubs, including Cade Horton being sidelined for the entire season, the Brewers are only one game ahead of them in the division. As a whole, the Cubs are only two games off the top spot in the division, currently held by the Pittsburgh Pirates.

If anything, news of Yelich's injury and the Brewers' recent struggles is a reminder that it's still early. No, the Cubs haven't had the strongest of starts to their season, but in terms of the standings, nothing has changed. The Cubs very much are at the center of contention in the National League Central, and the door remains cracked open for them to get past Milwaukee.

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