The Chicago Cubs are playing some excellent baseball of late, and with an easy stretch of the schedule coming up, they will be looking to separate themselves from the rest of the National League Central.
This season, the Cubs have been living up to their lofty expectations thanks to an electric offense.
For the past couple of years, Chicago has been a good team, but they are trying to take it to the next level in 2025.
So far, they have had some issues with injuries of late, but they haven’t let it slow them down just yet.
While the long-term outlook for the rotation might be a bit unclear, the team is still going to be a contender in the NL.
So far, the Cubs have been led by one of the most prolific offenses and there have been plenty of players who have had great starts to the season. Pete Crow-Armstrong and Kyle Tucker have garnered most of the attention with both making an early case for the NL MVP.
However, it hasn’t just been those two performing well, and one player has had a nice bounce-back season.
It was a bit of a disappointing 2024 season for Dansby Swanson with the Cubs. In the second year of a massive contract, he saw a dip in his production, causing some concern.
Last year, he slashed .242/.312/.390 with 16 home runs and 66 RBI. It was the first time since 2018 that his slugging percentage was below .400, which at over 30 years old is always a red flag.
However, the two-time All-Star has been much better this campaign, slashing .253/.315/.472 with 10 home runs and 26 RBI.
Just one season removed from one of his least productive years in terms of power, he has bounced back with one of his best so far.
Even though he is a key part of the offense, his strong production so far this campaign has flown under the radar. That might not be a bad thing for Swanson, with it showing the overall ability of the lineup that he has been overlooked for a solid start to the season.
Moving forward, the Cubs will certainly be hoping that he can continue to perform at an All-Star caliber level. His struggles in 2024 were one of the reasons why the team didn’t live up to expectations, but the bounce-back campaign in 2025 has helped them become one of the best units in the league.
