Look. Nobody’s complaining about a 17-12 record heading into this week’s series at PNC Park. The Chicago Cubs have risen to the occasion, playing up to an intense level of competition and heading into May in possession of first place in the division.
They’ve managed this thanks to offensive production all over the lineup, and without getting much in the form of contributions from the left side of the infield. So let’s start there.
3 surprising Cubs trouble spots: third base continues to be an issue
Low-balling All-Star third baseman Alex Bregman went about as well as expected for the Cubs, and he wound up signing a three-year, $120 million deal with the Boston Red Sox. He’s been one of the most valuable players in Major League Baseball one month in, already pushing 2.0 bWAR on the season and putting him on pace for his best year in the better part of a decade.
Chicago handed the reins at the hot corner to top prospect Matt Shaw, who has hit at every stop on his ascent to his MLB debut. The only problem now is that he didn’t hit once reaching the big league, slashing just .172/.294/.241 before being optioned back to Triple-A Iowa. Rule 5 pick Gage Workman was completely overmatched and the Cubs traded him to the White Sox, mercifully ending that experiment so we didn’t have to keep watching the team waste a spot on the 26-man.
Now we’re rolling with some combination of Jon Berti, Vidal Brujan and Justin Turner at third. Berti has been solid – but he needs to be the first man off the bench. Turner has been abysmal at age 40 and the sample size is too small with Brujan to draw any meaningful conclusion. But the point stands: third base is an issue right now.
3 surprising Cubs trouble spots: the team’s highest-paid player isn’t producing
Dansby Swanson is playing in the second-largest contract in Chicago Cubs franchise history. But another slow start – similar to the one we all bore witness to last spring – is bringing out his critics in droves.
It’s not just that the two-time Gold Glover isn’t playing at an elite level. He’s been a replacement-level presence on this team in the first month. At 0.0 bWAR, he’s not even among the team’s top 12 most valuable players, according to Baseball Reference. He’s been average to below-average with the glove, the one area that usually carries him during these slumps, and the results leave much to be desired.
The hope is he has a turnaround up his sleeve like he did in 2024, when he closed the year as roughly a 4.0 bWAR player. Given the complete lack of production at third, the Cubs need Swanson to step up and carry the load as this team’s trusted veteran leader.
3 surprising Cubs trouble spots: a supposedly reloaded bullpen is struggling
Jed Hoyer missed out on his big bullpen target when Tanner Scott signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers – but still added several new faces to the relief mix, including Ryan Pressly, Ryan Brasier, Eli Morgan and Caleb Thielbar.
Pressly’s inflated FIP suggests a good deal of luck in his early -eason success (and the eye test backs that up), Brasier hasn’t pitched since the Tokyo Series due to an injury, Eli Morgan is stashed at Iowa and Caleb Thielbar has started to settle in nicely. But the problem with this pen is the same as it’s been in recent years: legitimate shutdown options are few and far between.
Porter Hodge – minus one blow-up appearance in Arizona a couple weeks ago – is the closest thing to it, and even if you eventually give the right-hander the ninth-inning gig, there’s still the question of how to bridge the gap from the starter to him. Lively arms like Daniel Palencia offer glimpses of hope, but it looks like Hoyer will need to make a big splash to shore up the late innings come July.