CHICAGO — Don’t look now, but the Chicago Cubs are rolling, and the driving force behind their early-season success has been the high-level production from their revamped offense.
After the first month of the 2025 MLB season, the title of “best offense in baseball” belongs to the Cubs. Through 26 games, Chicago leads all of MLB in batting average (.265), on-base percentage (.346), OPS (.806), hits (243) and runs scored (163). Also, the Cubs lead the league in stolen bases by a wide margin, with 40.
What’s more, in games in which they’ve trailed, the Cubs’ hitters have proven multiple times that a deficit isn’t something that fazes them, a sign of a confident offense even in April. Just in the past week, they’ve battled back to beat the Diamondbacks 13-11 last Friday and the Dodgers 11-10 on Tuesday.
“I do think being down late in games and winning games that you’re down in, I think that is a really good experience for teams to have early in the season,” manager Craig Counsell said. “I think those are important experiences. Going up against bullpens and the best the other teams have is resilience-building.
“And so I think it’s a step in that direction.”
Typically, when a baseball team has an elite lineup, there’s a marquee player in the middle who makes every hitter around him better. Enter Kyle Tucker.
Tucker, acquired from the Astros as the Cubs’ biggest move of the offseason, was one of the best players in baseball before he ever stepped foot in Chicago. But since his arrival in December, he has been every part the superstar that the Cubs have needed for years, and in turn, he’s helping to elevate the rest of the offense.
The three-time All-Star is slashing .314/.423/.637 with eight doubles, two triples, seven homers, 25 RBI and seven stolen bases so far. Ahead of free agency this winter, Tucker is on pace for his best season ever. And given the high level of production from the entire Cubs lineup, pitching around Chicago’s best hitter has become rather difficult for opposing pitchers.
While Tucker’s immediate superstar impact might have been expected, a more surprising development — and what has really unlocked the team’s offense early this season — has been the dramatic improvement throughout the Cubs’ lineup. Last season, the Cubs had just one player with an OPS over .800, and that was former right fielder and current designated hitter Seiya Suzuki.
So far this season, they have five starters surpassing that OPS threshold: first baseman Michael Busch (.973), center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong (.888), catcher Carson Kelly (1.414), Suzuki (.894) and Tucker (1.060). Second baseman Nico Hoerner and left fielder Ian Happ are both over .700. With the instant impact from new faces in Tucker and Kelly combined with steps forward from young players in Busch and Crow-Armstrong as well as veterans in Hoerner and Happ, the Cubs’ offense is looking more formidable than it has in years.
The biggest offensive surprise for the Cubs so far is Crow-Armstrong, who has been one of the most dynamic players in baseball to start the season. Always thought of as a glove-first player, PCA has burst onto the scene offensively in his sophomore season. The speedy center fielder already has nine doubles, a triple and five homers to go with his 10 stolen bases.
When diving into the numbers this year compared to last, the biggest difference is that Crow-Armstrong is hitting the ball in the air 47.9% so far in 2025, up from 42.5% in 2024. Also, his hard contact rate is up by nearly 7%.
At a time when the power in baseball appears to have swung (no pun intended) to the National League, it’s crucial for any would-be contender to have an offense that can keep pace with the other powerhouse clubs in the Dodgers, Padres, Diamondbacks and Phillies. With Chicago having faced four of those squads already and playing three games against the Phillies this weekend at home, the Cubs have more than held their own through a tough early-season schedule.
The Cubs’ haven’t had a top-five offense in baseball since 2017, which is also the last time this team won a playoff series, but with the way things are trending so far and the solid production the Cubs are getting from up and down the lineup, they could return to being a top-five offense this season.
Not only that, but if Chicago’s offensive improvements prove to be sustainable — and early signs suggest that they are — this is a team that could be swinging its way to the postseason this year.
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