Welcome to SB Nation Reacts, a survey of fans across MLB. Throughout the year we ask questions of the most plugged-in Cubs fans and fans across the country. Sign up here to participate in the weekly emailed surveys.
Earlier this week, I gave you a choice of four Cubs who had gotten off to rough starts this year and asked you which one you thought would turn things around first.
Now, there were a couple things not quite right about the four choices. First, I left Nico Hoerner off the survey, and probably
should have included him because though Nico got off to a good start, he’s been in a slump for a while now. And I did include Michael Busch, who had a terrible start but then had a pretty good May.
Also, Josh did a BCB After Dark survey on a similar topic and you can read the results here.
With those caveats, here are the results from this week’s SB Nation Reacts survey:
Given what I just wrote about Busch above, yes, that is probably the correct answer. At the end of April Busch was hitting .193/.295/.281 (22-for-114) with just two home runs in 30 games. Since then: .301/.436/.522 (41-for-136) with six home runs in 39 games, including the big three-run blast Friday night in San Francisco. Given that Busch hit 34 home runs in 2025 — and four in eight postseason games — I’d still like to see him up the power output. Hopefully that will happen.
Nico Hoerner has also been in an extended slump — just .207/.289/.251 (37-for-179) over his last 45 games so, yes, it would be nice to see him turn things around, too.
Here are the results of the national questions asked in the SB Nation Reacts survey.
That’s a really interesting vote. Alvarez has been kind of under-the-radar this year because the Astros have struggled. But, he is currently leading MLB in SLG and OPS, and tops the AL with 22 home runs.
This seems pretty accurate. We’re only at the beginning stages of MLB/MLBPA negotiations, there’s been just one offer made from each side and there hasn’t really been any response to either in terms of modifying anyone’s requests or demands (other than the usual blustering). It’s still nearly six months until the CBA expires so crunch time is a ways away.
Yes. This is definitely a concern. And unless either side budges on what they’re asking for, owners will almost certainly lock players out when the CBA expires Dec. 1. That doesn’t mean that games will be lost in 2027 — not yet, anyway. Nevertheless, it’s worth keeping track of what’s happening in these negotiations as the summer goes by, and I’ll report any developments here.
This edition of SB Nation Reacts is sponsored by FanDuel.
