Weighting Cubs' Historically Good Defense By Position

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Earlier this week, our @Jeremy Tecktiel examined the Chicago Cubs' defensive performance in 2026. Therein, he was able to illustrate the idea that this year's group has not only been the best team in Major League Baseball on that side of the ball, but has turned into something legitimately historic. And that status comes regardless of your defensive metric of choice.

In the case of the that broad perspective, their collective work with the gloves has them on pace to turn in some absolutely wild numbers as they relate to each of Defensive Runs Saved, Outs Above Average, and Fielding Run Value. Whether you're interested in run prevention or the recording of outs, they're your team. It's not just that they're posting such impressive metrics in a vacuum, but ones that far exceed any team that could be considered in league with them from a defensive standpoint.

Jeremy's piece examined the team in the cumulative sense. Let's take it a step further and see just where those gaps between the Cubs and their big-league counterparts are present.

How Cubs Stack Up At Each Defensive Position In 2026

The most obvious area of gap-creating play comes in the form of Pete Crow-Armstrong. It's not enough that he's had a complete breakout at the plate; he's been far-and-away the best defender the sport has to offer this year as an outfielder. By OAA, his mark of 23 ranks second (behind Bobby Witt Jr.) but is also nine outs clear of the next-closest outfielder (Ceddanne Rafaela, at 14). That same gap exists within FRV, where the top two outfielders carry over the same numbers. DRS doesn't love Crow-Armstrong's work quite as much (14), but he still sits as one of the top defensive performers regardless of position.

None of that is surprising. Crow-Armstrong's jump is well-ahead of the second-ranked outfielder (Wyatt Langford), and he's recorded more five-star catches (defined as a catch with under a 25 percent probability) than any other defender you'll find. That such a gap would exist here before anywhere else is a relatively easy pattern to discern.

The next area that helps to create the Cubs' team-wide advantage isn't quite as obvious. It's the work of Alex Bregman at third base. In the case of both OAA (7) and FRV (6), it's Bregman's name that lives atop the leaderboard. The only third baseman higher on the DRS side is Matt Chapman, whose 16 runs saved narrowly edges that of Bregman's 14. If we're looking at defense as the business of recording outs, though, it's Bregman leading the pack, with his work at the hot corner helping to the Cubs to push their gap wider.

If we pivot back into more obvious notes, the middle infield of Nico Hoerner and Dansby Swanson has done their part, but more in conjunction with one another than on their own. Hoerner ranks fourth in OAA among second basemen (9), seventh in FRV (8), and 8th in DRS (3). Swanson, meanwhile, is third in OAA (16), fourth in FRV (11), and sixth in DRS (6) among those plying their trade at the six spot. They're both very good within the context of their own position, but it's what they do as a duo that makes the Cubs so darn good up the middle.

As far as OAA goes, those two are both in the top 13 among infielders. Only the St. Louis Cardinals have each of their two middle infielders (JJ Wetherholt & Masyn Winn) up that high on the leaderboard (we're not considering Milwaukee, as Joey Ortiz has roughly half the innings of work at shortstop that either Winn or Swanson do). That same trend is present on the FRV side, where each of Hoerner & Swanson are in the top 12. Again, it's only St. Louis doing something similar in that matter.

When you factor in the other positions at which the Cubs are having success—Ian Happ is above average in left field by both FRV & DRS, Michael Busch is above by both of those and OAA at first base, Seiya Suzuki has been near-elite according to all three, and both of the team's catchers are lingering around an average threshold—it's clear that the whole roster is contributing to this contemporary excellence. But it's the the work of Pete Crow-Armstrong, Alex Bregman, and the tandem of Nico Hoerner & Dansby Swanson that has helped to create a legitimate and insurmountable gap between the Cubs and their competition.