A year ago, many were skeptical that the Chicago Cubs could be a postseason contender, even after the acquisition of Kyle Tucker, a genuine star.
A year later, the Cubs did make the postseason and extended the Brewers to five games in a tightly-fought division series. The 92-win season was absolutely a good one, with Pete Crow-Armstrong breaking out into an All-Star, Gold Glove year, even though his performance declined in the second half. The Cubs also got big years from Michael Busch, Nico Hoerner,
Matthew Boyd, Daniel Palencia and others, as they appeared to be putting together a solid core of players for the first time since the big selloff of 2021.
Now Tucker is gone, and another former Astros player, Alex Bregman, was signed to bring a similar big bat to the middle of the lineup. Bregman also brings Gold Glove defense to third base and a reputation as a first-class clubhouse guy.
Speaking of defense, you might recall this article from a number of years ago that noted the 2016 Cubs as one of the best defensive teams in MLB history.
I’m here to tell you that this year’s Cubs might be another one making that list. The Cubs could have as many as six Gold Glove winners — the entire infield plus PCA and Ian Happ. Five of those six players have already won Gold Gloves, and Michael Busch should be in the mix for this year.
That matters. The eye test in Spring Training told me that some balls that (for example) Nico Hoerner or Dansby Swanson could have made plays on, went through the infield when minor leaguers or non-roster guys were playing there. That had an impact on the results for certain pitchers — another reason you shouldn’t pay any attention to spring results or numbers when analyzing pitchers.
It’s certainly true that everyone wants Shōta Imanaga to cut down on the home runs allowed. But Imanaga appears 100 percent healthy, in great shape, and his velocity was up from last year, when he never seemed fully recovered from that hamstring injury. I expect Shōta to be more like the 2024 version of himself. That will make this year’s Cubs rotation formidable, and Justin Steele will re-join it at some point mid-season.
That’s something that makes this Cubs team better. They’ve got five good-to-excellent starters, a capable sixth guy in Colin Rea, Steele coming back, and Javier Assad waiting at Triple-A Iowa. That’s eight MLB-quality starters — and who knows, maybe we’ll see Jaxon Wiggins join the rotation at some point in 2026, as Cade Horton did in 2025.
Horton, in my view, has the chance to be a true ace. His K numbers weren’t impressive last year, but remember, he was still ramping up to a career high in innings, so he was reported to have held back some of his best stuff. He did not do that in Spring Training, hitting 98 miles per hour frequently and in one game, striking out 10 Guardians in five innings.
Beyond the improvement in the Cubs, the rest of the NL Central has taken a step back. The Brewers traded their best pitcher and a couple of the young players who were key parts of that ridiculous 29-4 run they had midseason. The Reds are good, but have recently lost two of their best starters to injury. The Pirates are better, but… they’re still the Pirates. And the Cardinals are in a full rebuild.
In addition to the team on the field, the Cubs will be celebrating two significant anniversaries in 2026: The 150th anniversary of the franchise itself, the only original National League franchise from 1876 still operating in its founding city. The team will have celebrations throughout the year and you can vote for the 150th anniversary all-time Cubs team that will be revealed later this year. They’ll also be celebrating the 10th anniversary of the 2016 World Series champions. That World Series trophy was brought to Mesa this spring and there were long lines at Sloan Park of folks wanting to have their photos taken next to the trophy.
Perhaps there will be another such trophy to add to the collection after the 2026 season. This team is certainly built to win; 100 wins is not out of the realm of possibility.
It all begins tomorrow at Wrigley Field. Go Cubs!
