Nam Y. Huh / Associated Press

In the two previous seasons under manager Joe Maddon and with much of the same core, the Cubs have owned early August. In 2016, they won the first 10 games of August, and in 2015, they started the month 12–1.

But in 2017, they are just 3–6 to start August, having lost the rubber game of series against Arizona, Washington and San Francisco. That’s allowed the Brewers to stay within two games, the Cardinals to move within one game and the Pirates to stay alive at just three games back.

With 21 combined games left against those three teams, there’s still plenty to be decided in the NL Central. If the Cubs are to make the playoffs for a third straight season, however, they will need their premier superstar to wake up and start playing like it.

To be fair, Kris Bryant is having a successful third season. He’s 29th in MLB and tops on the Cubs with a 3.93 WAR through Wednesday. His on-base percentage is .390, five points higher than what he finished with last season. His strikeout rate is at 19%, down from 22%, and his walk rate is up from 11% in 2016 to 14% this season.

But overall, not only has Bryant not continued his career surge — Minor League Player of the Year in 2014, NL Rookie of the Year in 2015, NL MVP in 2016 — he’s regressed even more so than what was expected after two historically good years and the run to the World Series championship.

With the steps taken back by the Cubs other young studs such as Kyle Schwarber and Addison Russell, it seems like Bryant has been given a pass. However, now is the time, starting in Arizona tonight, to realize that it must be Bryant that carries this team, especially with rising star Willson Contreras expected to miss up to three weeks of action.

Last season, Bryant’s WAR was third in the majors and tops in the NL at 7.67. The simple stat of batting average shows a drop from .292 to .279, but it’s much more than that.

The reigning NL MVP has FORTY-EIGHT RBI. It’s August 11th. That has to be higher. Through August of 2016, Bryant had 90 RBI, a rate of an RBI every 6.49 plate appearances. This year, he’s at an RBI every 9.73 plate appearances.

Bryant is on pace for 29 homers, which would be 10 short of last year’s total. In 2016, he hit 22 homers, or 44 percent of his bombs, with at least one runner on base. This year, he has five such homers.

That’s evidence that his clutch gene is off. What’s more is that from May 1 to August 10th, Bryant has three significant homers. Here we’re counting a significant homer as one that comes after the first inning and with the score ranging from Cubs leading by 1 to Cubs trailing by 2. From May 1 to August 10th of 2016, he had 10 such homers.

Talking to reporters Wednesday, Maddon said that without Contreras in the lineup, others will have to step up. “Other guys realize, ‘Hey, let’s go. We have to pick up the slack that has been created.’ I’ve seen it before.”

It starts with Bryant. Granted, some of his struggles can be attributed to the Cubs just not being as good as they were last year. Though, with runners in scoring position, Bryant is hitting .220 this year, compared to .263 last season. And with two outs and RISP, it’s .170 this year, compared to .230 last.

Because pitchers know he’s willing to work the count, many of them have started Bryant with a first-pitch fastball down the middle to get ahead.

Here’s the first pitch from his fifth-inning plate appearance against Arizona on Aug. 2. Bryant takes strike one.

This happened several times in the first few games of August. Bryant is taking the pitch too often. Perhaps more aggression will get him back to superstar form. His last monster game came just before the All-Star break.

“It had been awhile, so I really needed that to feel good about myself,” Bryant said in an on-field interview after hitting two homers and driving in four on July 7 against Pittsburgh. “It’s nice to have two or three guys clicking at the same time, and usually they can carry a team. Hopefully, I can turn it around, certainly with a game like this. Turn this season around for us.”

Bryant has two homers since. He needs a few more July 7s if the Cubs have any shot of defending their crown.

Gene Guillot has been a Cubs fan since he stopped channel surfing one day in 1991 and heard Harry Carry’s voice. He once believed that curses were real but learned after the rain stopped, that, no, they aren’t quite so real. Gene can be found on Twitter @Genestats.