The Brewers' key offensive piece who needs to turn things around before the postseason

After missing nearly all of August with a hamstring injury, Jackson Chourio has resumed his regular duties in the outfield for the Milwaukee Brewers.

Here's the issue, though: Since returning, Chourio hasn't really looked like himself at the plate.

That sample, which begins on Aug. 30, now spans 103 plate appearances. In that time, the young phenom is batting just .239/.282/.382 with three home runs and no steals. That's a far cry from the impressive standard he's set for himself.

With Milwaukee inching closer to the No. 1 seed in the National League with each passing game, there's enough time for Chourio to get himself back on track. Still, the urgency is real, as it's hard to imagine the Brewers snapping their recent postseason funk without the best version of their future face of the franchise.

Jackson Chourio's hamstring injury may be plaguing him more than originally thought

In the first half of the season, Chourio was far from perfect, but he still made a lot of impact on a nightly basis. He hit .264/.297/.461 through the All-Star break, good for a 108 wRC+ including 44 extra-base hits (25 doubles, three triples, 16 home runs).

Those numbers have all cratered recently. Yes, he's still dealing with the aftermath of his hamstring injury, but here's his production in September: .193/.247/.301, 52 wRC+, five extra-base hits (three doubles, two home runs).

The Brewers aren't going anywhere with the No. 2 hitter in their lineup hitting roughly half as good as a league-average player. Chourio needs to course-correct fast. The good news is his approach hasn't faltered during this cold stretch. His walk rate is actually up from the first half (by about 50%), and his strikeout rate has only increased from 20.5% to 21.3%.

However, his power has disappeared (his ISO has dropped by 0.83 from the first half to September), and you can't really blame his batted ball tendencies (season-high 46.0% pull-rate) or contact quality (his 39.7% hard-hit rate this month is higher than his 33.4% rate in the first half).

Simply put, this may just be a mechanical issue. He's struggling to elevate the ball — perhaps a side effect of his lower-body troubles — posting a gargantuan 55.6% ground-ball rate this month. There aren’t a lot of hitters that are going to succeed in the major leagues with that kind of habit.

Let's be clear: Chourio is capable of impacting the game in a lot of ways. He doesn't need to revert to his absolute best form at the plate to change the Brewers' fate.

However, he is one of the most important hitters in their lineup. Save for maybe Christian Yelich and now Brice Turang, no one in Milwaukee can impact the game with one swing like Chourio can. If he can tinker away and fix what ails him — perhaps during the Brewers' long-awaited playoff bye — there's no reason this team can't live up to its billing as the best squad in baseball once October rolls around.