The Chicago Cubs have been one of the most prolific offenses in baseball throughout the 2025 MLB regular season.
However, in the second half of the campaign, some of their key contributors have fallen on tougher times. That has led to the Cubs falling behind in the National League Central race, where the Milwaukee Brewers have used historic winning streaks to build a 5.5-game lead entering play on Aug. 26. With some concerns about their pitching staff, it is imperative the offense gets on track.
A lot of attention has been placed on their All-Star duo, center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong and right fielder Kyle Tucker, and rightfully so. They were both mired in lengthy slumps before some recent big performances. Nothing like a few home runs to help get players back on track. But that hasn’t been enough to totally turn things around.
Both players are featured on a list compiled by Thomas Nestico on X, highlighting the biggest OPS fallers in the second half compared to the first. Crow-Armstrong, who had a first-half OPS of .847, has produced a .662 thus far in the second half. That 184-point drop is the 16th largest in the MLB.
1st Half vs 2nd Half OPS Fallers pic.twitter.com/XQbqULoXj3
— Thomas Nestico (@TJStats) August 26, 2025
Just ahead of him at No. 14 is Tucker, who had an .882 OPS but has produced only a .693 since the All-Star break. With two of their most important players both struggling simultaneously, it comes as no surprise that the team’s overall performance suffered, which was reflected in the standings. Unfortunately for the Cubs, those two aren’t the only ones featured on the list.
First baseman Michael Busch has been one of the biggest differentials in OPS in the first and second halves. He was on fire early on with a .925, but has produced only a .603 in the weeks since the Midsummer Classic.
The only players with a bigger difference are Aaron Judge of the New York Yankees and Cam Smith of the Houston Astros. They had differences of 444 and 375 points; Busch is at 322 through Aug. 25.
Kirby Lee-Imagn Images
The fourth Chicago player on the list is designated hitter Seiya Suzuki. His 296-point drop off isn’t the largest of his teammates, but he is producing the lowest second-half OPS of any Cubs on the list. His number is currently .571, a stark contrast to the .867 first-half number he produced with gaudy power production.
If Chicago is going to chase down the Brewers in the NL Central race, they need their biggest stars to get back on track and start producing at the level which they did earlier in the year.
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