It’s time to look back at Chicago Cubs player performances over the 2026 season. For the purposes of this exercise, the regular season is all I’m going to consider. I don’t think the clear underperformance of two postseason games moves the needle on any of these players.
A reminder that these grades are 100 percent mine and 100 percent subjective. You might — and probably will! — have different opinions on some of them. I’m splitting this into two articles because, well, I found myself writing way,
way too many words about the hitters to put everything in just one. The pitcher article will run tomorrow.
Overall, this Cubs team produced much hitting that had been unmatched in franchise history. Their 850 runs scored are the second-most for any Cubs team in the Modern Era since 1930 (855 in 2008). They set a franchise record with 674 walks, breaking the old mark of 656 set in 2016. Their 220 home runs ranked third in MLB (Astros, 226 and Yankees, 223). They walked off the opposition 13 times, tied for second-most in franchise history.
The year didn’t end the way any of us wanted. But that doesn’t mean it wasn’t a great season.
Here’s a breakdown of the significant Cubs hitters of the season just concluded.
Carson Kelly: B
Kelly’s .258/.336/.376 season with 10 home runs and 1.9 bWAR was not quite as good as his 2025 year, but I think it was absolutely fine for who he is. Kelly started 94 games behind the plate and threw out 24.1 percent of runners trying to steal, close to league average. He was also one of the top catchers (68.8 percent) in getting ABS calls correct.
I would like to see the Cubs bring Kelly back in 2027. There’s a mutual option which will certainly be declined, but I think the team and player could come to some sort of agreement, maybe with a vesting option.
Miguel Amaya: B
Amaya started 63 games as Cubs catcher this year (that’s 157 between Kelly and Amaya; the other five went to Moisés Ballesteros). Amaya threw out 28.9 percent of runners and hit well enough (.237/.340/.377 with six home runs in 215 at-bats). Pitchers like throwing to Amaya and Kelly and they make a good tandem.
Some will say that Owen Ayers should be given the backup role behind Amaya next year and Kelly should be let go. This would be a bad idea. Ayers has not caught a single MLB game and he’s caught only 33 games at the Triple-A level. He needs more experience.
Michael Busch: C
Busch’s power took a significant drop this year, from 34 home runs to 20 and from a .523 SLG to .393. That’s not good enough for a guy who occupies a middle of the lineup spot.
He did increase his walk total from 56 to 92, which ranked tied for 11th in MLB. But with his BA down from .261 to .242, that resulted in just a nine-point increase in OBP (.343 to .352).
This MLB.com article from July explains some of the changes in his approach:
Busch’s 14.2% walk rate is a 4.7% increase compared to 2025, the 10th-largest improvement among hitters with at least 2.1 plate appearances per team game in both seasons. That includes a significant 6.4% increase in walk rate against southpaws, and it puts him in the 94th percentile among all MLB hitters.
“I don’t think there’s one reason. I’m not going into the box necessarily trying to walk, just trying to get a good pitch to hit,” Busch said before Saturday’s win in Pittsburgh. “That’s basically my approach. I’m always happy with a walk, but there are some things that go into it, except just trying to walk. A lot of it is just having some experience now. I’ve been in the league a few years and I think I have a better idea of what pitchers are trying to do with me.”
That’s good, but… his bWAR dropped from 4.5 to 1.6, and the power outage likely has a lot to do with that.
Nico Hoerner: C+
Hoerner came out of the gate looking like an MVP candidate. Through the end of April: .291/.370/.449 with four home runs in 31 games.
That last game of April is when this happened [VIDEO].
Nico didn’t even leave the game and no concussion was diagnosed. He did leave the Cubs’ next game with what was termed “neck tighness,” which you can see here [VIDEO].
Again, he didn’t miss any time after that, but I can’t help wondering if this was something that nagged at him the rest of the season. He missed the next game, then returned and after that batted just .254/.301 /.322 with four home runs in 500 at-bats.
If it really was something bothering Nico all year, I hope the front office is willing to be upfront with us about it.
Dansby Swanson: C
Swanson had a very weird season.
First 14 games: 57 PA, .149/.281/.234, 17 strikeouts
Next 17 games: 69 PA, .273/.391/.600. five home runs
Next 39 games: 142 PA, .142/.227/.205, one home run, 38 strikeouts
Next 13 games: 56 PA, .365/.393/.981, nine home runs, 29 (!) RBI
Next 24 games: 90 PA, .209/.244/.267, no home runs, 21 strikeouts
Next 12 games: 44 PA, .278/.409/.528, two home runs, 10 runs scored
The end of that last 12-game sequence is when Dansby suffered the oblique injury that kept him out a month. When he returned he batted .160/.250/.280 with nine strikeouts in seven games and 28 PA.
I recognize this is cherry-picking of a sort, but seriously, when have you seen a player have dramatic hot streaks like that followed by sequences that would bench or send to Triple-A less experienced players?
Swanson still played solid defense, though likely not enough for another Gold Glove. His bWAR dropped from 4.5 to 3.2, but he has still averaged 4.2 bWAR for his four Cubs seasons. No complaints here. Just hope he’s healthy in 2027.
Alex Bregman: A-
This grade would have been a solid “A” if not for Bregman’s horrific start as a Cub, which had him batting .235/.333/.338 with just seven home runs in his first 92 games in blue pinstripes. That takes us to two games before the All-Star break. In those two games Bregman went 4-for-9 and homered twice and you could almost see the lights go on.
Including those two, Bregman batted .308/.388/.648 over his last 63 games (281 PA) with 19 doubles, 21 home runs, 50 runs and 58 RBI. That’s an MVP pace if you do it for an entire season. Bregman finished with 5.8 bWAR, third-best of his career and best since 2019, and his leadership qualities have been lauded by everyone in the organization. It was absolutely, positively worth signing him.
I cannot help wondering if not for that freak injury to him Sept. 20 in Cincinnati, whether the Cubs might have won two more games over the last week of the regular season and hosted the Padres in the Wild Card Series, rather than go to San Diego. Maybe that wouldn’t have mattered, maybe it would, but I do think Bregman’s absence really hurt the team that week.
Here’s one of my favorite Bregman moments, his game-tying two-out, two-strike, two-run homer in the ninth Aug. 6 against the Blue Jays [VIDEO].
Ian Happ: C+
Happ’s numbers weren’t that far off from his previous seasons, though his batting average was quite a bit lower. His power numbers (24 HR, 28 doubles, three triples) were consistent with previous years, his walk total (81) was right on target, and he continued to play a fine left field and likely wins another Gold Glove. That would give him five. Only two Cubs have ever won five or more Gold Gloves: Ron Santo (5) and Ryne Sandberg (9).
It strikes me that a lot of the dislike for Happ that I see on this site stems from the low BA. That’s only one small part of the whole package. He’s been a consistently good player for the Cubs for nearly a decade. If the Cubs make him a qualifying offer, given his middling season, he just might accept it. I think the Cubs would welcome him back for one more year.
Happ’s 197 career home runs rank 11th on the all-time Cubs list, one behind Hank Sauer. If Happ did return for 2027 and hit around 20-25 home runs, his career norm, he’d move up to ninth on that list.
Pete Crow-Armstrong: A++++++++++++++
I could put a few more pluses in there and I don’t think anyone would disagree. Not only will he win the National League MVP award (hopefully unanimously, and remember voting for that had to be completed before the postseason), PCA’s 2026 season was one of the greatest in Cubs franchise history. By bWAR (9.8) he tied Ron Santo’s 1967 season for fourth-best, behind only Ernie Banks (10.2 in 1959), Sammy Sosa (10.3 in 2001) and Rogers Hornsby (10.6 in 1929). Banks and Hornsby were MVP and Sosa finished second to Barry Bonds.
By fWAR it’s second-best, 10.6 to Hornsby’s 11.0.
We were blessed to watch PCA get to the 40/40 club, becoming just the seventh MLB player ever to do that, to hit more home runs (45) than any Cub in 21 years (Derrek Lee, 46 in 2005) and to play fantastic defense every single day.
Don’t ever forget the things you saw this young man do. Even though the season didn’t end the way we wanted, what he did is worth celebrating forever.
I could just post PCA videos for the rest of this article and you’d probably be happy, but I wanted to narrow things down to just one. This one, I think, sums up the disruptive force he can be on the basepaths. It’s the Aug. 6 game against the Blue Jays that was tied up by the aforementioned Bregman home run in the ninth. Neither team scored in the 10th, and PCA led off the 11th with a single that got placed runner Carson Kelly thrown out at the plate. Pete took second on the throw and the Jays intentionally walked Seiya Suzuki to bring up Busch to face former Cub lefty Brendon Little.
Then PCA single-handedly won the game [VIDEO].
Now think about that play. PCA took off on Little’s first pitch. Brandon Valenzuela thus rushed his throw and the ball got away and Pete didn’t even hesitate. You can see Quintin Berry waving him, but that was after PCA was already up and running to the plate. People used to say that Javier Báez’s baseball instincts were off the charts. I think PCA’s are, too.
And he is only 24 years old. Comparisons to what Ernie Banks and Willie Mays did at that age are not unwarranted, in my opinion.
And the Cubs have him signed for six more years at a relatively team-friendly figure. The Báez-for-PCA trade is already one of the best in Cubs history. It could wind up being the best when all is said and done.
Seiya Suzuki: A
Suzuki missed the first 12 games of the season due to a knee injury suffered in the World Baseball Classic. (And doesn’t it seem like the WBC was more than just a few months ago?)
He started out slowly, batting just .229/.372/.257 with 11 strikeouts over his first 10 games.
Then he got scorching hot, batting .351/.441/.754 with seven home runs in his next 15 games.
Over the rest of the year, his performance was quite consistent and he wound up with career highs in walks (81) and runs (96) while batting .270/.368/.473 and posting a career high 5.1 bWAR. Over the five years of the contract he signed before the 2022 season, Suzuki has hit .269/.351/.472 with 113 home runs in 675 games and a career total of 16.2 bWAR, or nearly 4 bWAR per season.
This year, too, his defense improved significantly both by metrics and by the eye test and I would not be surprised if he’s a Gold Glove “finalist” (they’re not really “finalists,” they’re just the three top vote-getters) or even wins the award.
The Cubs should make it a top priority to offer Suzuki a contract extension, maybe four years plus a vesting option for a fifth. He’s been a very valuable member of this team and I’d love to see him return.
Michael Conforto: B+
I was not in favor of this signing when it was announced around the beginning of Spring Training. Conforto had a poor year in 2025 with the Dodgers and I thought Dylan Carlson would be a better player.
Shows you what I know. Carlson played in just three games for the Cubs, going 0-for-4 before being released. He signed with the Phillies, played poorly in 40 Triple-A games for them before being let go and wasn’t picked up by anyone. So clearly, I was totally wrong in my analysis of these two players.
Conforto, meanwhile, slid in to a backup outfield/DH role with grace and production. He started off slowly, but by the end of April was batting .300/.421/.433 in 17 games and 38 PA.
Then came the game of May 4, Conforto’s first appearance in May, he’d sat on the bench for the first three games of the month. The Cubs trailed the Reds 4-3 going to the bottom of the ninth. PCA led off with a triple and one out later, scored on a sacrifice fly.
Conforto was sent up to bat for Matt Shaw. He ran the count full. And then… [VIDEO].
Well now. That’s a way to make a fanbase love you! As noted on the clip, that was his first career walk-off homer.
Conforto batted .240/.331/.469 with 15 home runs in 271 at-bats and played a decent right field when he was asked to do that. He was paid just $2 million for those 15 long balls, which were just two fewer than Kyle Tucker had for the Dodgers… and Tucker was paid, um, a lot more. Conforto and Tucker both finished with 0.7 bWAR. Conforto turns 34 in March. I would absolutely, positively bring him back for another year, if he’s willing.
Lastly, if you did not know this about Conforto, he comes from an athletic family. His mom is Tracie Ruiz-Conforto, who was a gold medalist in synchronized swimming in the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles. Conforto’s dad, also named Michael, played college football at Penn State.
Tyrone Taylor: A-
Taylor is exactly what the Cubs needed, a solid defensive backup outfielder who can play all three positions well. And he absolutely crushes left-handed pitching, or at least he did in 2026: .318/.348/.573 with six home runs in 110 at-bats. (Career-wise, his .744 OPS is a bit better than .710 vs. RHP, but not as significant a difference as this year.)
Taylor played five seasons for Craig Counsell in Milwaukee, so the Cubs manager knew exactly what he was getting when Taylor was included in the Clay Holmes deal.
He is a free agent and turns 33 in January, but I would love to see him back as a fourth outfielder in 2027.
Matt Shaw: C+
I cannot figure out Matt Shaw. He showed promise in the field and at the plate last year, but seemed to regress in 2026. Some of that was due to multiple injuries that limited him to 77 games this year. His OPS rose from .690 to .737 but his bWAR dropped from 3.0 to 0.7, likely because he was shuttled all around the field this year, rather than mostly play third base as he did in 2025.
He’s not really a right fielder and if the Cubs re-sign Suzuki he might not have a position, though I suppose he could play left. The team might be best served by putting together a package including Shaw and trading him for quality starting pitching.
Pedro Ramírez: B+
Ramírez was only supposed to be in the major leagues briefly. He was called up when Shaw went on the injured list in late May with back issues.
But Ramírez, who impressed me with his defense in Spring Training, hit well enough to stick around and became very useful when Swanson went down with his oblique issue. Overall in 80 games and 266 plate appearances, Ramírez batted .261/.321/.402 with 12 doubles, two triples, six home runs and nine stolen bases. That’s really good for any rookie, but especially one who had just turned 22 in April and who had played only 43 games at Triple-A before his callup.
And that might not even be the most impressive thing about Ramírez. It might be his maturity and work ethic, as detailed in this August article by Sahadev Sharma in The Athletic:
Manager Craig Counsell, not one to easily dish out praise, made sure to commend Ramírez for the way he carried himself. Veterans noticed it as well.
“I feel really happy that they have that idea, that they think those things about me,” Ramírez said. “I’ve always thought to myself, wherever I go, I’ll always try to show that. It instills a lot of confidence in me that they think about me that way. I’m very thankful for the opportunity.”
This is exactly the sort of thing that makes for a good major league player — hard work and confidence, in addition to natural talent. The emergence of Ramírez is another reason that Shaw could be traded for pitching. The Sharma article also notes:
With Ian Happ and Seiya Suzuki heading into free agency this winter, the Cubs are getting comfortable with the idea of giving Ramírez an everyday role in a corner outfield spot.
“I don’t know what the plans are for that position,” Ramírez said. “What I do know is I feel like I can take on whatever role is needed. Whatever it is they need, I can help and I’ll do my absolute best.”
As noted, I’d like to see Suzuki back long-term and Happ could accept a QO. But if not and there’s an opening in the outfield? Why not try Ramírez? The Cubs could have found the proverbial “diamond in the rough.”
Gabriel Arias: Incomplete
Arias could be a really useful player off the bench, but we just don’t know for sure. He played in only seven games for the Cubs, going 3-for-8 with a walk and three RBI.
For the Guardians last year, he was more or less their regular shortstop, starting 102 games there (and also 19 at second base), but he batted just .220/.274/.363 with 162 strikeouts in 471 PA, yikes.
But he won’t turn 27 until February and is a good defender. He’s under team control for three more years.
Kevin Alcántara, Justin Dean, Scott Kingery, Nicky Lopez, B.J. Murray Jr., Owen Miller and James Triantos also played in at least one game for the Cubs this year.
Tomorrow: Pitchers
