Chicago Cubs Hitters of the Month - May 2025

[Brian Kelder]

May was a wonderful month for the Cubs fans, and also (not coincidentally) for the Cubs lineup. This is a contending team, one that measures up to any team in the National League. 

So, specifically, who really leveled up in the past 30 days? 

Hitter #3: Seiya Suzuki
It's time to appreciate Suzuki for what he is: a consistent run producer. His 27 May RBIs is quite the impressive number, and he's on pace to tally an average of one per game for the season. While short of Hack Wilson's 191 from 1930, Lou Gehrig's 185, or other anti-Depression ball insanity, maybe he can eclipse Sammy Sosa's 160 from 2001. 

This RBI pace goes against the narrative for Suzuki. Don't let his occasional at-bats where he looks like he completely forgot how to play baseball affect your view of the big picture. He's a solid middle-of-the-order producer.

Hitter #2: Dansby Swanson
May Stats: .293/.360/.495, 6 HR, 18 R, 15 RBI, 3 steals, .855 OPS

This is a rolling graph from FanGraphs displaying the streaky nature of the Cubs' sure-handed shortstop. We just exited one of the good streaks (3 for his last 23 with a 33% strikeout rate). It was always inevitable that he would slow down, but let's just appreciate the month he just had.

That's the beauty of this lineup. Last season, there was a cluster of injuries and underperformance in May and June. This season, the Cubs have a sufficiently deep lineup to cover for slumps. And several Cubs did see a performance dip:

• Michael Busch: .892 OPS in April, .719 in May
• Carson Kelly: 1.347 OPS in April, .620 in May
• Kyle Tucker: .935 OPS in April, .882 in May

Swanson's OPS was only .638 in April, but spiked to .855 last month. He helped cover for some guys whose production slipped, and carried the offense in some games. When coupled with the always-steady defense, Swanson was a tremendous asset in May.

Winner: Pete Crow-Armstrong
May Stats: .269/.296/.593, 9 HR, 20 R, 29 RBI, 5 SB, .888 OPS

Stats aside, what Crow-Armstrong has done for Cub fans goes beyond baseball. He's the first Cub since Kris Bryant to generate this much national buzz.

This one article places him as a future top-three player in the majors. Here's an article calling him MLB's next superstar. He's going in the top two rounds in fantasy drafts at this point.

And I bought a Pete Crow-Armstrong shirt.

The Cubs have a bona fide talent that is garnering attention nationally, and deservedly so. The numbers back it up: Pete Crow Armstrong is the MVP in the month of May, both for the Cubs and for the league as a whole.

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