If determining MLB’s best defense is based on how many 2025 Gold Glove Award winners a team has, the Chicago Cubs would reign supreme.

This is because outfielders Ian Happ and Pete Crow-Armstrong, along with second baseman Nico Hoerner, all earned this prestigious honor after the 2025 MLB season.

No other MLB team has more than two Gold Glove winners. And while San Diego Padres outfielder Fernando Tatis Jr. won the Platinum Glove (which is given to each league’s best overall defender), there was an outcry from the baseball community that PCA didn’t earn this honor.

Regardless, there’s no question that the Cubs’ defense is the elite of the elite. And if they weren’t already going to be baseball’s best defensive unit heading into the 2026 season, all it would take is an acquisition like Alex Bregman to ensure that’s indeed the case.

Pete Crow-Armstrong / David Banks-Imagn Images

Those who have played baseball understand that while each defensive play depends on one to several individuals, a team’s total defensive effort depends on all nine guys. And for a team to sustain great defense over the course of a season, it takes having an identity.

Nico Hoerner spoke to this with powerful recent comments, which were conveyed in a November 9 article from Meghan Montemurro of the Chicago Tribune.

“That Padres (wild-card) series, I think, was really the best example of that, just the ability to win close games and steal runs and hits from the opposing team and from all parts of our defense,” Hoerner said.

”And only three of us were able to win the awards, but it was a real group effort. We all benefit from each other in a high standard and a sense of identity within that, and it’s always easier to play when you’re surrounded by good players,” he added.

Ian Happ (who has now won four straight Gole Glove Awards) also echoed his teammate’s sentiment, noting, “All across the field, we were pretty exceptional. And I think the confidence that gives our pitchers — they were the most competitive team in the zone, just as far as strike throwing. And I think it gives those guys a lot of confidence to go out and throw strikes and know that if the ball is put in play, the defense behind them is really solid.

“And so at times, it felt like it was a really suffocating thing for us as a group to be able to make all of those plays,” Happ continued.

A fun storyline to follow for 2026 will be whether the Cubs can continue to hold baseball’s crown for having the best defense.

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