Paul Niemiec

Image courtesy of © Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images The Chicago Cubs have always been a team of peaks and valleys, going way back to the Joe Maddon days. The Cubs offense could roll out of bed and outhit any team in baseball. Depending on what kind of streak they’re on, however, they could also make a back-end starter look like a Cy Young contender. Right now, nothing seems to be working. Before salvaging two games to split a series in Pittsburgh, they had lost six straight sets. Health issues have caused the pitching staff to rely heavily on minor-league depth to get through the game, and the hitting… well, that's what I am here to talk about. The Cubs snapped their 10-game skid, their longest since 2022, on Wednesday with an offensive explosion in Pittsburgh, and followed that with a good win on getaway night. Broadly, however, they can still be said to be struggling and lacking consistency, especially at bat. Since the first game of the Rangers series beginning on May 8, the Cubs are 26th in baseball in runs scored, 29th in team batting average, 25th in home runs, 28th in OPS, 27th in wRC+... you get the picture. Ian Happ, Seiya Suzuki, Pete Crow-Armstrong, Dansby Swanson, Moisés Ballesteros, and Nico Hoerner are all hitting under .200 over that span. Happ and Suzuki are striking out in nearly every other at-bat, while combining for four home runs even after Happ hit two to close out his week back at home In Pittsburgh. Even when the Cubs were hitting, they were leaving runners on base at an alarming rate. Below is the list of the top 10 hitters who have stranded the most runners this season: Ian Happ, Chicago Cubs Alex Bregman, Chicago Cubs Colson Montgomery, Chicago White Sox Seiya Suzuki, Chicago Cubs Tyler Soderstrom, Athletics 6. Nolan Schanuel, Los Angeles Angels 7. Pete Alonso, Baltimore Orioles 8. Daylen Lile, Washington Nationals 9. Michael Busch, Chicago Cubs 10. Matt Olson, Atlanta Braves If we expand this list to the top 20 players, the Braves are the only team with a second player on the list. Here we see Cubs occupying three of the first four spots, and four of the top 10. The silver lining here is that, to drive in runs, you need runners on base, so the Cubs are getting themselves into plenty of innings where they have chances to score. Unsurprisingly, the Cubs also lead baseball in runners left in scoring position per game. Putting more runners on and advancing them is going to naturally create more opportunities to strand them, and the Cubs had no issue getting on base prior to May 8. From Opening Day through May 7 (what I like to refer to as the fun part of the season), the Cubs led baseball with an OBP of .353. They were also leading baseball in walks with 179. Even during this not-so-fun part of the season, the Cubs still have the third-most walks in baseball, though their OBP has fallen to 21st. The perpetually expressionless Craig Counsell has been tinkering with the lineup slightly, but is still penciling in Happ in the cleanup spot, followed by Suzuki, for the majority of games. Bregman, who has been the hottest hitter during this humbling month, seems to be firmly entrenched in the three spot, but for most of this month, Michael Busch has been behind hitters that he shouldn’t be. Top position player prospect Pedro Ramirez is up in the big leagues, but he is 22 and was not projected to be a key part of this season. There's not going to be significant outside help joining the squad to ignite the offense, so there are really only two paths forward: this group gets it together, or they continue to fall to the bottom of the division. Until the pitching gets healthy, they are going to have to hit their way to wins, and that is just not happening. We are Cubs fans here, and while it is warranted to be downright baffled by their recent performance, there is a lot of baseball left to be played, and this is still a team that had two 10-game winning streaks this season. In fact, the 2026 Cubs have joined the 2017 Dodgers as the only teams in baseball history with two 10-game winning streaks and a 10-game losing streak in the same season, so the odds are with them to win the pennant this year. (If only this sport was that simple.) This is still a team that can heat right back up again and start mashing baseballs. Optimistically, there is no chance their underwhelming hitters stay in a season-long slump. Hitting is contagious, and this group has proven they can compete offensively with anyone; it’s going to be a matter of getting their heads right. The Cubs round out the month in St. Louis before the real opportunity to gain some ground. The pesky A’s are in town next week, but that's followed by a 12-game stretch split between the Giants and Rockies. Bregman, Busch, and Carson Kelly are all doing their jobs, and the hits will eventually return for the rest of the gang. Regardless of the pitching situation, we should still be in for a fun summer of baseballs flying around Wrigley Field. View full article

Image courtesy of © Jerome Miron-Imagn Images As they begin a new week, the Chicago Cubs sit at 27-14, leading the NL Central by 3.5 games. Only the team from the suburbs northwest of Atlanta has a better record. The devastating pitching injury news keeps on coming—last week, 2025 All-Star Matthew Boyd hit the injured list for the second time this season. Despite that, the Cubs are in the midst of a 15-game winning streak at home, and are 8-2 in their last 10 games. This season marks the first time since 2016 that the Cubs are at least 10 games over .500 this early in the season. That's not to say that the 2026 Cubs are on the path to a similar destiny; these are different rosters with varying strengths and weaknesses. Nonetheless, fans are feeling good about this team that finds ways to win while starring down injuries. Here we are going to go position by position, comparing how the starters have fared through the first quarter of the season. (For what it's worth, those Cubs were 29-12 at this same juncture.) Catcher 2016: Miguel Montero/David Ross 2026: Carson Kelly/ Miguel Amaya Before (and after) Willson Contreras held down the position from 2017-2022, the Cubs favored the tandem catcher approach. Montero was penciled in as the starter, but the 39-year-old Ross found himself starting over a third of the team’s games due to his chemistry with the veteran starters and Montero's brutal follow-up to what had been a very strong 2015 campaign. Although Montero hit the team’s first home run of the season, he was largely a non-factor at the plate, hitting .208 with four extra base hits through May 6. Ross was hitting a little bit better, but the two of them together had a combined FanGraphs WAR of 0.7. Ten years later, Carson Kelly’s breakout 2025 is carrying over tolerably well into 2026. Even after going 0-for-Arlington, he's hitting .283/.377/.384 on the campaign. Amaya got off to s slower start, but he's thrived in lighter duty and is now hitting .228/.371/.351. This year's group is certainly out-hitting the 2016 duo, though Ross and Montero were better behind the plate. First Base 2016: Anthony Rizzo 2026: Michael Busch Anthony Rizzo loved life in the middle of a high-octane lineup to start 2016. Through 41 games (a point that came 10 days later that year than this year), he was batting .245/.382/.536, with 11 home runs, 34 RBIs and more walks than strikeouts. This was Peak Rizzo: a Gold Glover, a Silver Slugger, a multi-time All-Star and the heartbeat of the team. Fast-forward to today, and the Cubs have their most prolific first baseman since Rizzo in Michael Busch, but he has not yet found his footing completely. The rust is shaking off nicely as the weather warms, and Busch is now batting .238/.349/.367, but Rizzo was obviously a better player that year than Busch is, at least right now. Second Base 2016: Ben Zobrist 2026: Nico Hoerner Fresh off a 2015 World Series MVP award with the Royals, Zobrist signed a four-year deal as a veteran complement to the Cubs' young offensive core. He was the primary second baseman early in the 2016 season, although he did log nearly 190 innings in the outfield, as needs arose. He hit the ground running for his new team, and the 40-game mark found him flirting with a 1.000 OPS. He wasn't a dazzling defender, but he was good enough. When the first pitch of 2026 was thrown, Nico Hoerner was entering a contract year. By the time the second game of the season started, he had agreed to a six-year extension. Through May 10, Hoerner is showing why he was deserving of this deal. His defense is exceptional, and even mired in a 3-for-22 slump, he's currently hitting .278/.351/.426, with plus baserunning, to boot. This is the first position where one can make a strong case for the 2026 Cubs to top the 2016 crew, so let's give them the nod. Third Base 2016: Kris Bryant 2026: Alex Bregman Here's a question that can sound fun or cursed, depending on your mood: When Bregman's time in Chicago is over, whose impact will have been greater? Bryant ascended from being a top draft choice to the status of the sport's top prospect. He won a Rookie of the Year Award and an MVP Award for the Cubs, and was instrumental in their winning the World Series. Thereafter, though, his career was often disrupted by injuries. Bregman is already past his peak, but is he past his prime—or is this just a standard-issue slow start from a veteran whom you can trust to get untracked any minute? Either way, Bryant then was a much better player than Bregman now, but the skills and the gravitas of the veteran at this moment give him a chance to carve a legacy just as rich as Bryant's before he's done as a Cub. Shortstop 2016: Addison Russell 2026: Dansby Swanson I am tempted to just call this for Swanson and move on, but Russell was another bright spot for the 2016 Cubs. He would end up having an All-Star season and some huge playoff moments, but he started off slowly in April. His .225/.352/.337 slash line does not jump off the page, but as a staple in the bottom of the lineup, he was not counted on to carry much of the offense. His defense was dazzling, though a bit unconventional at times. What he did off the field forever stains his place in the team's history, but he was a linchpin of (arguably) the best defense in baseball history. Swanson is off to a peculiar start to 2026. He's only batting .201, but he's shown power, and he's walking enough to keep his OBP respectable, at .313. Russell was a better defender, but on intangibles on and off the field, it's fair to say Swanson is a better contributor to wins right now than Russell was even then. Left Field 2016: Various 2026: Ian Happ When Kyle Schwarber collided with Dexter Fowler in the first week of the season, the 2016 Cubs' plans for left field were scuppered. That was the Cade Horton injury of the 2016 club. Jorge Soler started 51 games at the position, which led the team, but Bryant made 36 starts there as well, with Willson Contreras and Chris Coghlan also starting over 20 games each. Bryant was the best player who played left in 2016, but none of the players mentioned got off to as hot a start as Ian Happ is having right now. He leads the Cubs with nine homers, and is on pace to surpass his career high of 25. He's also walking at a very high rate, adjusting as well as anyone to the ABS system and the smaller zone that comes with it. The 31-year-old is entering a contract year, and is certainly performing well enough to earn a multi-year deal, but it remains to be seen if the Cubs will be the ones offering it to him. The longest-tenured Chicago athlete gives the 2026 Cubs the advantage in left over the rotation of solid players that Joe Maddon used in 2016, though to be fair, Maddon was scrambling a bit—and he got to backfill a lot of the playing time he gave to others in left by slotting Javier Báez into the lineup. Center Field 2016: Dexter Fowler 2026: Pete Crow-Armstrong Fowler had been a dynamic leadoff man for the 2015 Cubs, but looked poised to leave via free agency—until, suddenly, he showed up at Cubs camp after all. He then got off to a much better start than he'd enjoyed in his first year on the North Side; mid-May found him batting .324/.445/.547. Maddon rightly dubbed him the catalyst of the offense, and he kept their engine firing until more of the sparks caught and his teammates heated up come summer. In the present, Crow-Armstrong is the most exciting center fielder in baseball, but the jury is still out on what kind of hitter he will be. He has one of the lowest walk percentages on the team, and he's pairing it with one of the highest strikeout percentages. He still has the speed to steal bases and stretch hits into extra bases, but he hasn't put that on full display this year. After a Reds series in which he was the game-breaking force the Cubs so often benefited from last season, maybe his bat is warming up in its own right. Either way, his elite defense makes him valuable—but that 2016 version of Fowler was a more complete player. Right Field 2016: Jason Heyward 2026: Seiya Suzuki The top outfielder on the market joined the Cubs on an eight-year prior to 2016, famously taking less money than he was offered by the Nationals. The recipient of the largest free-agent contract in Cubs history struggled to hit throughout the seven seasons he played in Chicago, and was granted his release before the eighth year. If you want to believe the players, it was Heyward’s rally cry during the Game 7 rain delay that ignited the Cubs offense en route to the World Series win, but there sadly isn’t a “speeches given” section on the back of his baseball card. Heyward struggled immediately in 2016, posting a .581 OPS through early May, redeemed only by the respect of his teammates and his sparkling play in right field. Heyward will always have the defensive chops that Suzuki lacks, but Suzuki is a middle of the order hitter who has done nothing but hit since his return from the IL. In 27 games, he’s slashing .293/.403/.535 with 7 homers, anchoring the middle of a lineup that has not gotten much from Crow-Armstrong, Busch, or Bregman yet. Suzuki turned into one of the better hitters in baseball last season, after being more good than great in his first three MLB seasons. Like Happ, the 31-year-old is in a contract year, and could see another large payday if he continues to be a dependable middle-of-the-order bat. The Suzuki over Heyward choice is one of the easiest on this list. Utility 2016: Javier Báez 2026: Matt Shaw Since there was no DH in the NL 10 years ago (and Báez had to make this list somewhere), let's compare him to Shaw as a utility player. Before taking the everyday shortstop job, Báez bounced around the infield in 2016. He played over 300 innings at second and third base, nearly 200 at shortstop, and a few more innings in left field and first base. The 23-year-old had a walkoff home run on Mothers Day, although he fell into a slump thereafter and had just a .277 OBP through 41 Cubs games. He was already showing the ability to make a huge impact defensively. This isn’t a dig on Shaw, as he has seemed to turn a corner with the bat this season while handling multiple positions. After a mixed bag of results in 2025, he is hitting .271 with a .755 OPS this season. The underlying metrics suggest Shaw has made improvements to his hit tool and that should become more apparent as the season goes on, but at this point, the edge is still going to Baez. Starting Rotation 2016: Jon Lester, Jake Arrieta, John Lackey, Kyle Hendricks, Jason Hammel 2026: Shota Imanaga, Edward Cabrera, Colin Rea, Jameson Taillon, Ben Brown/Javier Assad The aspect that sets the 2016 team apart from the 2026 team is the starting pitching. Currently, the rotation has some bright spots and some not-so-bright spots. A healthy Imanaga is leading the bunch, with a 2.28 ERA over eight starts and a high strikeout rate to go with restored velocity. Imanaga always seems to start the season hot, so right now, he is the Cubs’ best starter. Trade addition Edward Cabrera has been as good as advertised, at times—but we've also seen what it looks like when his strange changeup-first arsenal isn't in sync. Colin Rea is back in the rotation due to the Cade Horton injury and has been a solid back-end contributor. Jameson Taillon and Matthew Boyd (who is now hurt again) have not been as sharp as they were last season, though. It’s really unfair to compare the current bunch to their 2016 counterparts, who were one of the most dominant single-season Cubs rotations ever. Lester and Hendricks finished second and third in the NL Cy Young Award voting, with Arrieta also getting support after winning the prize the previous year. Arrieta had already thrown a no-hitter by this time that year. The magnitude of difference here is much larger than between, say, Fowler and Crow-Armstrong or the respective catcher tandems. Closer/Bullpen 2016: Héctor Rondón 2026: Daniel Palencia Led by Rondón and fellow righty Pedro Strop, the 2016 Cubs pen got off to a hot start. Like any contender, they sought to reinforce that group as the summer wore on, but they had depth and high-velocity strikeout options in that group even in April and May. The 2026 bullpen needs reinforcements now, as all of their high-leverage arms outside of Hoby Milner and Brown have spent time on the IL. Current closer and WBC champion Daniel Palencia is a more electric arm than Rondón, but at least Rondón was healthy. There are glimpses of hope for breakout years from just enough guys, but right now, it's easy to pick this part of the 2016 pitching staff over the 2026 version, too. The Verdict C; Carson Kelly/Miguel Amaya 1B: Anthony Rizzo 2B: Nico Hoerner 3B: Kris Bryant SS: Dansby Swanson LF: Ian Happ CF: Dexter Fowler RF: Seiya Suzuki UTL: Javier Báez Rotation: 2016 Bullpen: 2016 In 11 categories, the 2016 Cubs have the advantage in six of them, making this a bit closer of a race than some might have thought. On the other hand, some of the 2016 group's advantages are much greater than those for the 2026 team. This group also doesn't have a farm system likely to yield either a Contreras-caliber midseason boost or a trade package like the one that brought the team Aroldis Chapman in 2016. These are two very different teams, and the game has changed immensely over the past decade, so this is not to say the 2026 team can’t experience the same fate. They are the hottest team in baseball right now, and are still finding ways to win despite their injuries. It will be a fun summer in Chicago, but there probably won’t ever be a Cubs team like the one we saw 10 years ago. View full article

Image courtesy of © Matt Marton-Imagn Images With roughly a week and change left in April, and roughly 90% of the MLB regular season left to go, it’s time to check in on how the rest of the NL Central is doing. As of 4/21, here are the current standings: Reds: 15-8 Pirates: 13-9 Cubs: 13-9 Cardinals: 13-9 Brewers: 12-9 The Cubs were middling to begin the season, but with the bats propelling them to a series win in Philadelphia, and a sweep of the spiraling Mets over the weekend, they are right back in the thick of things. The only caveat now is the state of the rest of the division, which does not have a team below .500. Even the Cardinals, who were thought to be the bottom dweller this season, have gotten off to a nice start. The technically third-place Cubs are still favorites to win the division, but this season is going to be much more of a gauntlet than originally anticipated, even after Milwaukee and St. Louis made some major subtractions from their rosters over the offseason. Here is a brief look at how the Cubs’ divisional rivals have fared so far. Cubs' NL Central Opponent Check-In Cincinnati Reds The Reds, who made the playoffs last season, are leading the division despite a -3 run differential. Coming off a sweep of the formerly red-hot Minnesota Twins, the team still sits dead last in baseball in wRC+ and batting average. The pitching staff as a whole has a 4.54 xERA, which ranks 24th in the league. Their top two starting pitchers, Hunter Greene and Nick Lodolo, have not thrown a pitch yet, and both have ambiguous injury outlooks at this point. Both should be in the rotation at some point this season, but it is unclear when that will be. Still, the Reds are winning games, although they have not played a team with a current record over .500 besides the Pirates. What’s working: The Reds have exactly two things going right for them on offense: Elly De La Cruz and Sal Stewart. De La Cruz has already reached 1.0 WAR on the young season, with an .859 OPS, six home runs, and five stolen bases. Stewart is doing even better, with a team-leading .978 OPS, seven home runs, and 19 RBI. The 22-year-old is looking like an early frontrunner for the NL ROY award up to this point in the season. After a few seasons with a revolving door at first base, the Reds look like they have another star at the position, their first since Joey Votto retired. Christian Encarnacion-Strand was traded to Baltimore last week, leaving Stewart with little to no competition for playing time, especially with new/old friend Eugenio Suarez taking over the primary DH role. De La Cruz is one of the most exciting young players in the game, but he needed a dependable bat in the lineup to take some weight off his shoulders, and now it looks like he has that. On the pitching side, they’ve gotten quality work out of former first-round pick Rhett Lowder as well as Chase Burns. In the bullpen, Brock Burke, Conor Phillips, Graham Ashcraft and Sam Moll all have ERAs under 3.00, with Tony Santillan yet to give up a run in his 10 innings pitched. Their number 10 organizational prospect Jose Franco has made his debut in the bullpen, and No. 7 prospect Chase Petty is waiting in the wings. If this group can hold things together on the mound until Lodolo and Greene return, the Reds will suddenly have a deep pitching staff going into the second half of the season. What’s not working: The Reds’ offense and pitching rank toward the bottom of MLB in many statistics, and this is because any player I have not mentioned by name yet is off to a rough start. Here is a list of all the players on the Reds with at least 30 plate appearances that are hitting under .200: Tyler Stephenson, Matt McClain, KeBryan Hayes (hitting .058), T.J. Friedl, Noelvi Marte and Will Benson. Another mind blowing offensive stat for this team so far is that outside of the aforementioned Stewart, De La Cruz, Suarez, and Stephenson (due to fielding), not a single player has a positive WAR. The Reds have hitters who have been exciting before in McClain, Spencer Steer and Nathaniel Lowe, but there is definitely something in the water at Great American Ballpark that is causing such an offensive funk for most of the roster. Granted, there is no way this lineup should be this bad the rest of the season, since it is almost identical to the lineup that got them to the post season a year ago. Pitchers Andrew Abbott and Brady Singer are due for some positive regression at some point as well, since both have proven they are better than an ERA over five. The scary thing here for Cubs fans is that this Reds club has had serious problems on both sides of the ball, and is still 15-8. Once they get going, they might be viewed as the biggest threat to the Cubs in the division. Pittsburgh Pirates: We’ve seen this happen in recent memory, but how real is it this time? The Buccos finished April of 2023 with a 13-9 record before the wheels fell off. This team does have a different vibe to it, however. They have the best pitcher in the world in Paul Skenes. 20-year-old phenom Konnor Griffin has made his debut right after signing an extension. Oneil Cruz finally looks like a key offensive piece, and newly acquired Brandon Lowe is mashing with seven home runs. Last season, Pirates starters finished sixth in ERA, and this season, they are currently second at 2.81. Pitching will be a strength as long as Skenes is healthy, but the question once again will be the perennially suspect offense. What’s working: As previously mentioned, the Pirates have one of the highest-upside, young starting staffs in the game. Interestingly enough, Skenes’ 3.27 ERA is the highest of their five starters. 2025 top prospect Bubba Chandler is the only other starter sporting an ERA above 3.00, as Mitch Keller and Braxton Ashcraft are below 3.00. Cameron Mlodzinski, who has quietly been one of the more consistent arms around since 2023, has a dazzling 1.77 ERA through four starts. Jared Jones threw a live bullpen last week and should be joining the rotation sometime in June. The bullpen quartet of Dennis Santana, Yohan Ramirez, Isaac Mattson, and Gregory Soto have been the bright spots in a bullpen that is more good than great to this point. Hunter Barco, who has pitched briefly in the majors this season before being optioned, is one of their higher ranked prospects and should be up again soon. If the offense, which ranks top 10 in runs scored, batting average, home runs, wRC+, and most other categories, is able to stay consistent enough through 162 games, this team could easily win the division. Outside of Cruz and Lowe, free-agent addition Ryan O’Hearn is hitting .329 with a .960 OPS. With Andrew McCutchen in Texas after his somewhat controversial exit, Bryan Reynolds, having been with the team since 2019, is the veteran leader and is enjoying a nice .809 OPS after his substandard 2025. They’re also getting solid contributions from role players Jake Mangum, Spencer Horwitz, and the Nicks: Gonzales and Yorke. Konnor Griffin is not off to the hottest start at the plate, but he has five hits in his last four games, and could be turning a corner. New veteran DH Marcell Ozuna is also seeing the ball better with a pair of homers in the last week, after starting the season ice cold. What’s not working: This is a hard question for this team, because nearly everything seems to be working. Yes, Griffin hasn’t been great through his first few weeks, but the rest of the lineup is getting the job done. They do need a catcher, as 2021 number one overall pick Henry Davis is looking more and more like a bust. Last season, Davis was usurped by another former top prospect Joey Bart, but now they are hitting both under .200. Their No. 9 prospect Rafael Flores made his debut last season, and could fit into the equation this season, but he is hitting .208 with Triple-A Indianapolis. In fact, none of their top prospects in Triple-A are hitting at all, as Jhostynxon Garcia and Termarr Johnson have averages under .160. The Buccos better hope their group at the MLB level can continue to hit, because there doesn’t seem to be a lot of hope in the upper minors right now. There were questions defensively after Cruz had a terrible opening weekend in center field, and O’Hearn was signed to be a makeshift outfielder, but they have been okay, if not better than anticipated. Overall, the vibes are as good as they’ve been in over a decade at PNC Park, so let’s check back later to see how they’re holding up. St. Louis Cardinals The Cardinals were never supposed to be a main character for the 2026 season. They sold veterans Sonny Gray, Nolan Arenado, and Willson Contreras and were set on rebuilding, as their only “significant” addition was RHP Dustin May. Yet, here they are, tied with the Cubs, albeit with a -10 run differential. Cubs fans know the Redbirds have always found a way to remain competitive, and while this is the weakest roster in the division on paper, that could change quickly if some of the early results prove to be no fluke. What’s working: Former top prospect Jordan Walker leads the NL in home runs with eight and all of baseball in WAR with 1.8. He is hitting .305 with a 1.013 OPS and is finally looking like the offensive force he was projected to be. Still only 24 years old, this looks like the breakout Cardinals fans have been waiting for, and if he ends up being the new offensive face of the team for the next half decade, St. Louis will yet again hold one of the best hitters in baseball. Alec Burleson has seemingly found his home at first base after bouncing around from the infield to outfield over his first few seasons. He is hitting .280 with an .820 OPS with more walks than strikeouts. Former seventh overall pick J.J. Wetherholt made his debut on Opening Day and has a .750 OPS, which is third on the team. The pitching has been a bigger question mark, but they have a few young arms off to hot starts, who are auditioning for their role on the present and future Cardinals staffs. Although he is not striking hitters out, righty Michael McGreevy leads the team with a 2.49 ERA in four starts. Andre Pallante and Matthew Liberatore have been solid contributors as well, and should improve as the season progresses. The real treasure here on the Cards’ pitching staff is closer Riley O’Brien. The 31-year-old righty is building off a breakout 2025, where he pitched to a 2.06 ERA in 48 innings. He hasn’t given up a run this season in 12 1/3 innings and has a K/9 over ten. JoJo Romero has also been serviceable in the back end of the bullpen, with a 2.25 ERA. Likewise, 2021 fifth-round draft pick Gordon Graceffo has an ERA under 1.00 in his 10 2/3 innings pitched. Breakout rookie Matt Svanson was their best reliever last season, but has struggled so far in 2026. If he can reign in the walks (7.6/9), he would go a long way toward improving on their 25th-ranked bullpen xERA. In terms of reinforcements on the prospect lists, slugging outfielder Joshua Baez and pitchers Jurrangelo Cijntje and Quinn Mathews should see regular playing time before the season ends. Outfielder Lars Nootbaar should be back by late May or early June, which will certainly improve the offense as well. What’s not working: The underlying stats for the offense (sixth in WAR, 13th in wRC+, 15th in batting average) show that the Redbirds could produce at least league-average offense throughout the whole year, but the pitching is a different story. They have the worst team K/9 in the game at 6.38, and they’re also in the bottom third in the league in BB/9. Free-agent addition Dustin May has given up 15 earned runs in 19 1/3 innings but has an FIP under four, signaling some positive regression could be looming. Kyle Leahy, on the other hand, has an FIP close to six, and does not at all resemble the guy who was one of their most important starters last season. They’ve also gotten lucky, being 5-0 in extra innings, and 5-0 in one run games. O’Brien deserves credit where it's due, but he is not exactly a proven big league arm. The Cards will need a quick turnaround from veteran Ryne Stanek in order to continue winning close contests. Milwaukee Brewers: The defending NL Central champs started the season hot; they swept the White Sox to open the season and followed that up with series victories against the Rays and Royals. Then, they hit a skid on a road trip to the East, where they lost the second and third games of their series in Boston, and were swept by the Nationals. They had a nice rebound last week, winning both series against the spiraling AL champion Blue Jays and the scrappy, but still meh, Marlins. The offense that carried them last season has been middle of the pack in nearly any category you can name, and the pitching is very average as well. The Brewers started slower last year, and came roaring back, much to the dismay of Cubs fans everywhere. With reigning Manager of the Year Pat Murphy at the controls, and young ace Jacob Misiorowski leading the starting staff, there are still many reasons to bet on the Crew again. What’s working: Misiorowski is leading baseball with 42 strikeouts, which is helping fans forget that former ace Freddy Peralta is on the Mets. Brandon Woodruff is having a nice start to the year as well, in what he is surely hoping is going to be his first fully healthy season in a few years. The veteran pitching on the qualifying offer has a 3.42 ERA in his four starts. Speaking of ERA, Chad Patrick’s is under 1.00 in 19 innings pitched. Kyle Harrison, a former top-100 prospect, seems comfortable in his third organization in under a year. The bullpen hasn’t been nearly as effective, but DL Hall, Aaron Ashby and Grant Anderson have kept the group afloat. Offensively, William Contreras and Bryce Turang are each hitting over .300, with Turang’s .437 OBP leading the NL. Garrett Mitchell has an OPS exceeding .800, and Gary Sanchez is tied with Jake Bauers for the team lead in home runs with five. Jackson Chourio is expected back sometime in May, which will be a much-needed boost to this lineup. What’s not working: The Brewers have a few key contributors not working right now. Christian Yelich just hit the IL and is expected to miss about a month. Andrew Vaughn has been out since Opening Day, and pitchers Quinn Priester, Craig Yoho, and Jared Koenig are all out as well. Injuries are a part of the game, and the Brewers are good at finding replacements, but they need Chourio, Yelich, and Vaughn in the lineup as much as possible because they have some guys who are not hitting. Joey Ortiz is hitting below the Mendoza line, along with Sal Frelick, but with Ortiz, it's looking more and more evident that his ceiling is that of a weak hitter. The Luis Rengifo third baseman strategy is flat out not working, as he is currently worth -0.3 WAR while hitting .167. Too bad their other newly acquired infielder, David Hamilton, is also hitting sub-.200, while top prospects Jett Williams and extension recipient Cooper Pratt are struggling in Triple, so it looks like Rengifo is the answer for the foreseeable future. They’re in need of their bullpen reinforcements too, as prospect Brandon Sproat has given up 13 earned runs and already been moved out of the rotation. The biggest issue in their pen is closer Trevor Megill, who has been brutal to start the season. He has an ERA over 10.00 while giving up eight earned runs, while last season, he gave up 13 earned runs in total. With an offense that is not nearly as potent as it was a season ago, the Brewers can’t afford to be coughing up leads late in games. View full article

Image courtesy of © Brad Rempel-Imagn Images The injured list keeps getting longer for the Chicago Cubs. The focus over the past few weeks has been the starting rotation—mainly the news that righthander Cade Horton will be out for the remainder of the season. The impact of an injury to a pitcher like Horton, who was on his way to being one of the top young starters in the game, is massive for the Cubs, who lack a true ace. Now, the bullpen is being ripped apart, too, by a series of injuries over the last week or so. Free-agent additions Phil Maton and Hunter Harvey are both on the 15-day IL, and so is Ethan Roberts. On Wednesday, we found out that Porter Hodge will be joining Cade Horton on the injured list for the rest of the season, due to UCL surgery. Though the jury was out on how much Hodge could actually be counted on this season, losing him for the season in mid-April will present the Cubs with another depth-related challenge. After a breakout rookie season in 2024 wherein the 23-year-old posted a 1.88 ERA (2.75 FIP) with a WHIP under 0.90 in 43 innings pitched, he was set to be one of the team’s high-leverage relievers last year. In fact, before the 2025 season started, the armchair general managers in the Cubs subreddit were debating on whether the Ryan Pressly trade made sense, suggesting Hodge should be the answer in the ninth inning. Even though walks were probably always going to be a point of concern, the 6-foot-4 righty boasted a fastball that could touch the upper 90s, and a wipeout slider that made the 2019 13th-round pick a potential weapon for a bullpen lacking a shutdown option. Relief pitching was a strength for the Cubs in 2025, with the bullpen finishing 11th in baseball with an ERA of 3.78. However, Hodge was a surprising non-factor, as he dealt with various injuries, pitching 33 innings in the majors with a ghastly 6.27 ERA. He still missed bats, as evident by his near 11 K/9, but he was hit around otherwise, giving up nine home runs in that small sample. Injuries aside, his fastball and slider velocity were a tick up from 2024, giving Cubs fans hope that Hodge could still overpower hitters, and would eventually work his way back into the pen. He had not yet thrown a pitch in 2026 before we got the news of this latest injury, which will certainly cost him not only 2026, but some of the 2027 season, too. The good news is that he's still pre-arbitration, so he remains a long-term option, but the club hanging onto him is no guarantee. The Cubs have one of the hardest bullpens to project, based on their affinity for making plenty of low-risk signings, so there is a non-zero chance that we have seen Hodge for the last time as a Cub. Moving forward, the Cubs are going to have to find more serviceable right-handed relief options. With all the injuries that have unfolded already, the Cubs are carrying a whopping five lefties in their bullpen: Caleb Thielbar and Hoby Milner have been around since Opening Day, but now, Luke Little is back, along with Ryan Rolison and rookie Riley Martin. Ben Brown has been a nice revelation as a full-time reliever so far, closer Daniel Palencia has not allowed an earned run, and Colin Rea has carried over the effectiveness from last season. Now with Rea needing to join the rotation, another right-handed relief option is gone. Jacob Webb is active, but his ERA is north of 5.00, and the only other righty on the 40-man roster is Gavin Hollowell and his negative career WAR. He's hurt, too, though less severely; he just hit the 7-day IL for Iowa. The 9-9 Cubs can sit tight and hope this lefty-heavy group can hold their own until Maton, Harvey and Roberts are back, but the chase for the NL Central crown is looking a lot tougher with the way Cincinnati and Pittsburgh have opened their seasons. The Cubs will be shopping for relievers come July, but they might need new faces in this group before then. The problem is, they don't have a ton of promising options. As for prospects, Jaxon Wiggins might be up at some point this summer, but his services could be needed in the thinned-out rotation. Their next-best pitching prospect is 19-year-old Kaleb Wing, the club’s No. 12 prospect, according to mlb.com. There is one interesting option who sits on their top 30 prospect list: 26-year-old Grant Kipp, who has thrown 8 1/3 scoreless innings to open the season with Knoxville. He is not an overpowering arm, but what he’s done so far has worked. What’s wrong with riding the hot hand? Out west in Des Moines, there’s not a whole lot to be excited about from righties. There is a 30-year-old, 6-foot-8 reliever named Gabe Klobotsits, who has a 2.08 ERA. Former top prospect turned journeyman Vince Velazquez is trying to make the majors for the first time since 2023 and has the fourth-lowest WHIP on the team (1.05), trailing Paul Campbell, Zac Leigh, and, you guessed it, Gabe Klobosits. The cupboard is bare. Free agency is just as grim, but maybe they can pry Jorge Lopez away from the Saraperos de Saltillo of the Mexican league. Flamethrower Michael Kopech is still out there, but he’s coming off a season wherein he only pitched 11 innings due to injuries and still isn’t healthy. Guys are hitting the waiver wire all the time, and the Cubs shouldn’t be doomed once some of these arms start coming back, but the Hodge injury is a huge blow to their right-handed bullpen depth, something that could be foreseen as an issue this whole season. If there is one silver lining to playing the Mets, Phillies, and Dodgers over their next three series, it is that those lineups are built around their stud lefty hitters, giving the lefty-heavy bullpen a bit of an advantage. They will need to figure out what to do when they head to San Diego at the end of the month and face off against Fernando Tatis Jr., Manny Machado and Xander Bogaerts. View full article

Image courtesy of © Dan Hamilton-Imagn Images It isn’t even halfway through April, and the Chicago Cubs’ pitching depth is already noticeably depleted. We got the news last week that the Cubs would be without sophomore starter Cade Horton for the rest of the season, due to a UCL injury. That came after the team placed Opening Day starter Matthew Boyd on the 15-day IL with a biceps strain. Before the season, the Cubs had some of the better rotation depth in baseball. Horton and Boyd were set to lead the rotation, with Shota Imanaga, Jameson Taillon, and Edward Cabrera to follow. Swingman extraordinaire Colin Rea was in the bullpen, but could easily slot into the rotation. The underrated, dependable Javier Assad was stashed in Triple-A, along with top prospect Jaxon Wiggins. Oh, and their ace lefty, Justin Steele, would be showing up midseason. Now, what looked like a deep group has thinned out substantially, and there might be a need for outside reinforcement. It's not just Boyd and Horton. Top offseason relief additions Phil Maton and Hunter Harvey are already on the shelf. Jordan Wicks and Porter Hodge have been sidelined since February. Wiggins has a sore arm. Even some of the way-down-the-list guys in Iowa are out of commission. Well, there is one right-handed pitcher who posted 2.1 bWAR last season and remains unsigned: veteran starter Lucas Giolito. Last season with Boston, he pitched to a 3.41 ERA in 145 innings, but with a more worrisome 4.17 FIP and fanGraphs xERA of 5.01, signaling his good results were a bit better than his actual performance. His 19.7% strikeout rate was his lowest since 2018, before he turned the corner and became a mid-rotation workhorse for the White Sox. Last season marked his return to the mound after a second Tommy John surgery that cost him 2024. Due to that injury, and his age (31), there is more than enough reason to believe that Giolito can be better in 2026—but also enough uncertainty hanging over him to keep his market tepid. So why has he not been signed? There seems to be a pretty large disconnect between what Giolito thinks he's worth and what teams are comfortable paying him. He turned down a $19-million option with the Red Sox, certainly thinking he could secure a longer-term pact. Now that the season has begun, that gamble is looking more and more foolish by the week, especially considering the lack of success for pitchers who sign after Opening Day. No projections have him pitching to an ERA better than 4.50 for 2026, so he's not headed for a multi-year payday or anything. It seems unlikely, though, that he'll play for less than an eight-figure (prorated) salary. Robert Murray of FanSided said the Cubs are “most likely” to move forward with their internal options instead of pursuing Giolito, but if his price tag comes down, then the Cubs should seriously consider the addition. At this point in his career, he's not exactly a sexy addition to the front half of a rotation, but he could provide competitive innings. Imanaga looks great this year so far, but he had injury issues a season ago. Boyd and Cabrera have each spent an unfortunately large portion of their careers on the IL, and Steele is returning from a serious injury that cost him nearly all of last season. This need already feels pressing, and it's likely to get worse, not better. Though Giolito was mostly healthy last season, he was scratched in the postseason due to more elbow troubles, so there is still an injury risk here. But who else can the Cubs turn to? It's (probably) too early in the season for the trade market to take shape, and the remaining free agents not named Giolito include Nestor Cortes, Jon Gray, old friend Marcus Stroman, Alex Cobb and Frankie Montas. Giolito is younger and coming off a better season than all five of those other pitchers, so for the right price, he is really the only legitimate option who can slide into a rotation in the next month—if, indeed, even he can. As of today, the Cubs are 7-8, good for last place in the NL Central. The main focus has been an anemic offense. It's too early to start waiving the red flags with that group, which is just getting up to speed, but it's not too early to explore pitching depth in a depleted rotation. Last year, the Cubs' chief rivals found Quinn Priester in a seemingly desperate April trade to patch holes in their own rotation. The Cubs don't have the Brewers' organizational depth or acuity in moves like those, though, so they have to more seriously consider an expensive alternative. View full article

Image courtesy of © Dennis Wierzbicki-Imagn Images The Chicago Cubs wrapped up their second home series of the season earlier this week, taking two of three from the Los Angeles Angels. This early season bout between interleague non-rivals has two points of trivial significance. The first being that the Angels were the Cubs’ opening series of the 2016 season, although that one was in Anaheim. Ten years later, the Cubs are back in a competitive window and have taken advantage of perennially rebuilding Angels squad to jump start 2026. The second point, one that I will be diving into here, has to do with the Angels’ DH: old friend Jorge Soler. The Cuban outfielder and designated hitter defected from Cuba in 2011 and made his debut for the Cubs as a 22-year-old in 2014. He was one of the first prospects called up that would eventually lead them to the 2016 World Series. He was also part of a massive trade following the 2016 season; just over a month after the championship was won, Soler was traded to the Kansas City Royals for their two-time All Star closer Wade Davis, who was hand-picked to replace Aroldis Chapman. At the time, Davis was coming off a year where he transitioned into being a full-time closer, saving 27 games and posting an elite-level ERA of 1.87. Though Davis was a one-year rental, the Cubs needed a proven, high-leverage arm at the back end of the bullpen to properly defend their title. Davis ended up being worth every penny during his lone season in Chicago. He saved 32 games with a 2.30 ERA, struck out 79 hitters in under 60 innings pitched, and made his third consecutive All-Star team. Most notably, he carried the team on his back for 2 1/3 innings to close out game 5 of the NLDS versus the Nationals. After the season, he signed a three-year contract with the Rockies, where he pitched about as well as you’d imagine for a Colorado reliever not named Brian Fuentes. Although the Cubs did not repeat as World Series champs in 2017, that season represents the last time the Cubs had a closer with 30 saves. It has been eight campaigns and counting that the Cubs have been looking for an anchor in the ninth inning. To give them credit, they signed frequently injured flamethrower Brandon Morrow to replace Davis, and he did save 22 games while battling injuries in 2018. In 2019, Craig Kimbrel came aboard in what would eventually become the last major free agent splash orchestrated by Theo Epstein. Kimbrel’s 23 saves in 2021 before his deadline trade to the White Sox represents the highest of any Cubs’ closer since Davis in 2017. His 3.22 ERA with the Cubs from 2019-2021 was a far cry from his time in Atlanta and Boston, but he’s still the only player to lead the Cubs in saves for more than one year since the Hector Rondon days. His tenure remains somewhat forgettable since it happened during the span that we saw the championship core eventually disband, but he was at least a reliable ninth-inning fireman. After Kimbrel was traded and the Epstein era officially ended, we began to see the Jed Hoyer bargain-bin bullpen approach, which is still alive today. After the 2021 roster blow up, it did not make sense to pay for any difference-making relievers. Then. 37-year-old David Robertson joined the bullpen in 2022, saving 14 games, which lead the team, before being traded to the Phillies. That started the Cubs trend of bringing in a few different veterans with closing experience and hoping one of them can hold onto the job. Former Orioles closer Mychal Givens, as well as Chris Martin, were also in the bullpen that season. In 2023, former closer Brad Boxberger and former-top-prospect-turned-reliever Michael Fulmer were meant to compete for the closer job; instead, it ended up going to the first in-house candidate since Hector Rondon. Adbert Alzolay saved 22 games with a 2.67 ERA, and gave the fans a reason to be excited about the 2024 bullpen. The optimism lasted a few weeks, as Alzolay was booted from the closer role before the calendar even turned to May. Arm issues took him out for the rest of 2024 that he suffered in May, and he has not pitched in the majors since. The 2024 Cubs saves leader ended up being veteran Hector Neris with 17, but there was another homegrown reliever making his presence felt: right-hander Porter Hodge. Hodge converted nine saves with a 1.88 ERA in 43 innings and was giving fans the same sense of optimism heading into last season. Instead, the injury bug bit yet again and he regressed to an ERA over 6.00 in only 33 innings. Hodge was never penciled in as the closer, however, as the Cubs made a trade with the Astros to acquire two-time All-Star Ryan Pressly. The problem with Pressly was that he was 36 years old and undeniably washed by the time he made his way to Chicago. After being pulled from the closer role in early May, he was eventually released before the trade deadline. He totaled five saves in his last season before retiring. Now, the buck seemingly has stopped here with the 2025 Cubs saves leader and 2026 WBC champion Daniel Palencia. Team Venezuela’s closer was a mid-range prospect for the Cubs after being acquired in the 2021 Andrew Chafin trade and pitched sparingly in the majors from 2023-2024. As aforementioned, he was not meant to be the closer last season, but Craig Counsell trusted Palencia’s triple-digit fastball enough to replace the out-of-gas Pressly. For the 2025 postseason, he was used as the first reliever out of the pen, with Brad Keller closing out the games. With Keller on the Phillies, Palencia is the only reliever with any closing experience for 2026. Over the first six games of the season, he has no saves (hasn’t had an opportunity) but has not allowed a run in four innings pitched. In those appearances, he has shown more confidence and poise on the mound, which could be attributed to closing out the WBC for Venezuela’s upset win. That injury bug remains a pesky problem, but there's no denying that Palencia has the bravado to finally cross that 30-save threshold... assuming the Cubs can give him enough opportunities to get there. View full article

Image courtesy of © Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images The Chicago Cubs officially have one of the better first basemen in baseball, the first time they can say that since the departure of Anthony Rizzo back in 2021. Things seemed bleak at first base for some time; we saw Frank Schwindel and Patrick Wisdom for too long. Past-their-prime veterans Eric Hosmer and Trey Mancini were supposed to be the bridge to slugging prospect Matt Mervis, but he is long gone as well. Most were a bit stumped prior to the 2024 season when the Cubs traded teenage pitching prospect Jackson Ferris and top outfield prospect Zyhir Hope for an aging prospect without a clear defensive position. Then, when they almost immediately announced he would be transitioning to first, it made their outlook even more confusing. Michael Busch was regarded as one of best hitters of the 2019 draft when the Dodgers selected him out of UNC with the 31st overall pick. He made his debut in 2023 and hit .167 in 81 plate appearances while playing a subpar second and third base. Going into 2024, the Dodgers had Busch, Kike Hernandez, Miguel Vargas, Chris Taylor, Gavin Lux and Miguel Rojas competing for work in the infield behind Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman and Max Muncy. Although Busch was expendable at that point, he was still the 51st ranked prospect in baseball, and would become the Cubs’ number four organizational prospect behind Cade Horton, Pete Crow-Armstrong, and Owen Caissie. Fast-forward two seasons and now Busch is picking up down-ballot MVP votes and leading the Cubs in home runs. First starting off as a platoon player, Busch began starting everyday early in 2025 and is one of the set-it-and-forget-it players in the lineup. Chicago Cubs First Basemen At A Glance Starter: Michael Busch Backup: Tyler Austin (On IL), Jonathon Long Depth: Moises Ballesteros, Owen Miller (minors), Christian Bethancourt (minors) Prospects: B.J. Murray The Good: Well, Michael Busch is pretty darn good. The 28-year-old lefty broke out massively in 2025, slashing .261/.343/.523 with 34 home runs, 90 RBIs, and serving as the leadoff hitter for the Cubs’ first postseason run since 2020. You’d have to go back all the way to 2019 when Kyle Schwarber hit 38 homers to find a higher total than Busch’s. His 4.6 WAR was tied for third on the team, trailing only Crow-Armstrong and Nico Hoerner. As for first basemen league-wide, he was tied with Bryce Harper and only trailed Matt Olson, Freddie Freeman, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., and Pete Alonso. Under the hood, the statcast numbers show a player who is blossoming into one of the top offensive forces in the game. His average exit velocity of 92.2 was tied for 18th in baseball, his barrel percentage of 17.1 was 11th, and he finished 10th in xwOBA at .378. In a game where luck is certainly a factor, Busch is showing consistent, quality contact that cannot be considered a fluke. In fact, Busch’s wOBA of .369 shows he was a little unlucky last season. Defensively, Busch posted a .996 fielding percentage and 2 DRS that placed top six amongst MLB first basemen. He is not going to win four gold gloves like Rizzo, but he will make the routine plays while bailing out a few bad throws from the Cubs' excellent infield. For 2026, Busch is an integral part of a lineup that is half proven veterans and young studs who need to establish themselves as bona fide contributors. He is the team’s most important left-handed bat who will be relied upon to play 150+ games again (he played in 155 last season). The Bad: Did you notice how the entire previous section only mentioned Michael Busch? That is because he is the the majority of what is good about the Cubs’ first base situation. Across the infield, Matt Shaw is lined up to backup at any of the three other spots, with top prospect Pedro Ramirez looking close to MLB ready. In the outfield, Kevin Alcantara is deserving of an extended look, if one of the starters goes down. But first base? It really seems like Busch or bust, since offseason signee Tyler Austin will be missing the first month or more of the season. Even if Austin was healthy to start the year, he's still a 34-year-old with 0.9 career WAR, who hasn’t played in the majors since 2019. He’s had a cumulative .945 OPS in the NPB over the last six seasons, but banking on any sort of production in his return stateside is wishful thinking. After Austin, the cupboard runs bare very quickly. Craig Counsell’s old friend Owen Miller is down in the minors and has first base experience. He went 8-30 this spring and brings an extra element of speed to the table. One-game wonder Christian Bethancourt is back with the organization and has enough experience at the cold corner to be considered another unexciting option. Moises Ballesteros played four innings of first base last season, but is currently penciled in as the starting DH. From a fan’s perspective, the most exciting option if Busch were to miss time would be prospect Jonathan Long. The Long Beach State alum is coming off an excellent AAA season where he hit .305 with an .883 OPS and 20 homers, but needs to hit the ball in the air more to reach his power potential. Long sits outside of the top 100 MLB prospects and has a long-term outlook of being a potential role player, rather than a difference maker in the middle of the lineup. The point here is that Busch needs to stay healthy or else there becomes a massive hole in the lineup. The Bottom Line: There are depth questions here after Busch, but the Cubs have an ascending star at first base. Even if his home run total isn’t as high as last season, the Cubs are counting on their leadoff hitter to propel them back to the postseason. In terms of his contract, he is still pre-arbitration and has four years of team control remaining. There are few other first basemen in baseball producing like Busch and not taking up a huge portion of their team’s payroll. He won’t be this cheap forever, so fans need to enjoy this while it lasts. First base is a position of strength for the Cubs again. View full article

Image courtesy of © Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images With Opening Day a couple weeks away, the Chicago Cubs have some key roster decisions looming. The starting lineup is generally set, and will look a lot like it did last season, but with Alex Bregman replacing Kyle Tucker in either the two or three hole. Here, we are going to look at the Cubs’ outlook at designated hitter for the 2026 season. Last season, Seiya Suzuki started 102 games at DH, with Kyle Tucker taking over in the playoffs after a hairline fracture in his hand was revealed in August. Justin Turner made some starts as a DH, as well as rookie catcher Moises Ballesteros. Since the DH was introduced in the NL in 2020, then again permanently in 2022, the Cubs have used the spot as a way to get players off their feet or mitigate injury risk. Suzuki’s 2025 marks the only time a single player has started over 100 games at the position. With the departure of Tucker, Suzuki is currently pencilled in as the starting right fielder, and the DH will likely revert to a position of flexibility for Craig Counsell. As of now, FanGraphs.com projects a platoon situation for the Cubs, with Ballesteros getting the lion’s share of starts against righties, while Suzuki getting the starts against southpaws (with newly trained outfielder Matt Shaw taking care of right field). Alex Bregman, who turns 32 at the end of this month, will also get work there to allow the defensive-minded Shaw to return to the infield. The rest of the field could include the other catchers, Miguel Amaya and Carson Kelly, since Ballesteros will also get time behind the plate. Tyler Austin will be back into the mix at some point mid-season following knee surgery, and Michael Conforto was added to the room weeks ago, although on a minor-league deal. Cubs Designated Hitters At A Glance Starters: Moises Ballesteros/Seiya Suzuki Backup: Alex Bregman Depth: Miguel Amaya, Carson Kelly, Michael Conforto, Tyler Austin Prospects: Jonathan Long, B.J. Murray The Good: Ballesteros is the Cubs’ number one organizational prospect, and baseball’s 55th ranked prospect according to Mlb.com. The 5-foot-8 22-year-old impressed in 20 games last season, hitting .298 with an .868 OPS, and will get the first crack out of camp. The Cubs seemed like a destination for another bat outside of Bregman, but the front office clearly does not want to block Ballesteros for another year. He has a .289 cumulative batting average across five minor-league seasons and has nothing left to prove. He'll likely bat in the bottom third, which is a lower pressure spot that should allow him to get more comfortable in the big leagues without feeling like he needs to be a top contributor in the lineup right away. FGDC projections are a bit light in terms of games played, at 84, with a slash line of .264/.327/.400; not a bad season by any means, but he seems capable of more. Ballesteros has only four major-league at bats against lefties, which would be too coincidental to not be by design. This brings us to the right-handed tandem of this platoon, Seiya Suzuki. He is going to play nearly everyday (when healthy), splitting between right field and DH. Fresh off a 32-homer campaign, Suzuki is as good of a bet as anyone to repeat those numbers, as he is coming into a contract year at 31 years old. His exit velocity has remained consistent to the rest of his career, but a launch angle improvement in 2025 caused by his barrel rate jump to 16.6%, which ranked 12th in the majors, portends some good days ahead. With Suzuki as a DH in the middle of the lineup against lefties, Shaw, who smashed lefties to the tune of an .808 OPS last year, should be a productive hitter in the bottom of the lineup. Areas of Concern: Ballesteros’ 50-grade power could eventually evolve into 20-plus homers, but he’s going to need to start hitting the ball in the air more. His high batting average and OPS in his major-league sample last season masked a ground ball rate of 62.2%. Even before the call-up, his ground ball rate was hovering close to 50% in 114 Triple-A games. His improved exit velocity and hard-hit rate are not going to translate to as much success if he cannot lift the ball more consistently. He is not exactly a burner out of the batter's box either, so this could also mean double plays galore for opposing defenses. If Ballesteros can improve on his 0.8 degree launch angle that he showed in the majors, and starts hitting more balls in the air and over the wall, it would go a long way in assuring the Cubs can finish near the top of baseball in home runs again. Last season, Suzuki, Michael Busch, and PCA topped 30 home runs for the first time in their careers. How safe is it to expect those numbers again? Especially in the case of PCA, whose power surge was as unexpected as any in baseball. Alex Bregman is more of an all-around hitter than a pure power hitter. For the team that finished sixth in baseball in home runs last season, there’s a lot of variables going into 2026. If Ballesteros continues to struggle with lifting the ball, and home run regression happens from any of the three 30-homer hitters a season ago, there could be instant regret in not bringing in a more established home run hitter at the DH spot. As for a Ballesteros backup plan: Michael Conforto and Dylan Carlson have been tearing up spring training, and first base prospect Jonathan Long should be ready for the majors after he returns from injury. Now here’s the bad news: Although he launched 20 homers with the Giants in 2024, the 33-year-old Conforto has not been a difference making bat since he hit .322 with a 2.1 WAR in the 60-game 2020 season. Carlson has never lived up to his top prospect pedigree to this point in his career and spent the last two seasons bouncing around, playing sparingly. Though Long offers intrigue as an offensive prospect, he is viewed as a higher floor player without difference-maker upside. Tyler Austin will also be in the mix upon returning from injury, but he hasn’t played in majors since 2019, and has a total of 0.9 career WAR over four seasons. He owns a slash line of .293/.377/.568 across six NPB seasons, but still counts as a lottery ticket more than a bankable contributor. The Bottom Line The in-house approach to the DH spot is all going to hinge on Ballesteros making the necessary adjustments to hold that position down. They have a top prospect in a platoon with a slugging outfielder, with Bregman filling in when he needs a day off from the field, which is a good blueprint in theory, but could test the depth of this roster should things go wrong. The plan B would be Suzuki moving back to the full-time DH, with Shaw (or Alcantara or Carlson) taking over in right field. Bregman could also make a large portion of his starts there, but taking a 2024 Gold Glove winner, who just signed a $175 million contract, off the field seems unlikely. We will see within the first couple months of the season whether Ballesteros holds his own or if the Cubs will need to add a power bat to their trade deadline shopping list. View full article