A Player from Each NL Central Team That Will Give the Cubs a Problem

Christian Yelich - OF - Milwaukee Brewers

After being traded to the Brewers, Christian Yelich had a lot of success. In his first season with the Brewers, Yelich won an MVP, but then COVID hit and he had an awful 2020 season. If you ask any Brewers fan, his 2021 and 2022 seasons were very disappointing as well. His numbers have been trending upward, though. Last season he had 575 at-bats and hit .252 with 14 home runs and 57 RBI. These numbers are nothing special, but if you look at his 2020 and 2021 seasons, he is making positive strides.

Yelich may have had average numbers on the season in 2022, but he was very good when playing against the Cubs. In 18 games, Yelich had 21 hits to give him a batting average of .328. The former first-round pick added 4 home runs, 13 RBIs and 15 runs scored to his 2022 stat line versus the Cubs as well. 28% of his home runs and 22% of his RBIs came against the Cubs. When facing Yelich last year, Cubs' pitching just could not figure it out.

To the surprise of many, the Cubs were able to pull off a winning record vs the Brewers in 2022. Even with Yelich producing those numbers, and the pitching staff in Milwaukee, the Cubs were able to pull out 10 wins. However, 8 of those 10 games were decided by 2 runs or less. The Brewers made a few additions and kept the same pitching staff, so they seem to look pretty strong heading into the 2023 season. The Cubs are going to be in some serious danger if they fail to suppress Yelich this upcoming season.