Seiya Suzuki Has Become Clutch Slugger Cubs Need in No. 3 Spot in Lineup

Image courtesy of © Katie Stratman-Imagn Images

Cubs Video

The 2025 Chicago Cubs can hit and score runs with anybody in the league. That was showcased over the weekend in Cincinnati, when they scored 30 runs over three games. Several players had excellent series, but the best performance of the weekend on offense for Chicago came from its designated hitter, Seiya Suzuki.

Suzuki's career with the Cubs has been strong, and probably what most expected when he made the transition from Japan to the United States. He's a career .277 hitter, with 69 home runs and an .834 OPS in 430 games played and 1,622 at-bats for the Cubs. After a slow start to the 2025 season, Suzuki has increased his production and cemented himself as the perfect No. 3 hitter in the Chicago lineup.

After his three hits and four RBIs Sunday, Suzuki is now the MLB leader with 49 RBIs—one ahead of his teammate, Pete Crow-Armstrong. He had seven total hits and two home runs in the series against the Reds and has gotten himself back on track after a slow start to the month. His ability to do damage in high-leverage situations certainly helps his case to remain in the No. 3 spot, as do the two hitters in front of him in the lineup.

Suzuki is usually behind both Ian Happ and Kyle Tucker in the batting order, and both of those players get on base at a healthy rate. Happ currently has a .344 on-base percentage, while Tucker sits at .384, good for 17th in the major leagues. As Suzuki has become incrementally but crucially more aggressive, he's tapped into enough power to be perfectly suited for driving home both table-setters.

Suzuki is succeeding not only with runners on base, but especially when those runners are in scoring position. He boasts a slash line of .362/.414/.724 with runners in scoring position this year. That slash line increases to .444/.545/1.074 when there are runners in scoring position and two outs. Those are gaudy numbers and a perfect representation of why Suzuki fits as the No. 3 hitter in the Chicago lineup.

His numbers are actually better when batting second, for the simple reason that he does so only against left-handed starters. That small swap figures to continue, as Craig Counsell manages matchups and sets up advantageous situations throughout his batting order based on the opponent, but when there are righties on the bump for the other team, expect to keep seeing Suzuki bat third. With continued production from Suzuki through the remainder of the season, Chicago could have its first major-league RBI leader since Sammy Sosa in 2001. If Suzuki does that, the Cubs could be well on their way to their first division championship and postseason appearance since the COVID-shortened 2020 season. In fact, they're well on their way, anyway.