Cubs Have Two of Baseball's Three Best Defensive Players

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CHICAGO, ILLINOIS – APRIL 23: Pete Crow-Armstrong #4 of the Chicago Cubs celebrates his three-run home run with Nico Hoerner #2 against the Los Angeles Dodgers during the fourth inning at Wrigley Field on April 23, 2025 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)

Although they have cooled down offensively from their blistering start at the plate, the Chicago Cubs are still ticking along nicely.

They are currently 6.5 games back of first place in the National League Central, but only because the Milwaukee Brewers have been streaking ahead as the best team in baseball. With a 76-58 record of their own at the time of writing, eight games ahead of the third-place Cincinnati Reds and with a very strong lead in the Wild Card standings, there will almost certainly be postseason baseball in some form at Wrigley Field this year.

The Cubs are still scoring well, with their 4.91 runs per game ranking seventh in the majors, but they are not just a team doing all their work at the plate. In fact, according to the numbers at Fielding Bible, the Cubs have the second-best defense in the majors – and the two best individual defensive players in the game.

Cubs’ Strength Up The Middle

It does not take more than a moment of watching the Cubs to know who those two players are.

In the outfield, All-Star center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong leads the majors in defensive runs saved, with 20. With his positioning, reads, cannon of an arm and speed to cover ground, Crow-Armstrong has recorded 363 put-outs on the season (the most among outfielders in the league), while also leading baseball in Defensive Wins Above Replacement with 2.5). Seemingly whatever the measure, Crow-Armstrong is at the top of it.

Incredibly closely behind PCA in defensive runs saved is Nico Hoerner, who at the time of writing has 18 of his own. (The only player between them is Fernando Tatis Jr of the San Diego Padres, with 19.) Hoerner, the primary second baseman and occasional shortstop, is a walking web gem, and is leading the majors in defensive production at second base – by a very, very long way.

Defense Wins Championships, Or So They Say

As good as both are, they are also proving to be particularly hardy. With 1153.0 this season, Crow-Armstrong has played the ninth-most innings in the field in the whole of baseball, and with 1,124.0 of his own, Hoerner (22nd) is not far behind him. The defense and the availability embody their reliability.

This foundation up the middle gives the Cubs a platform on which to build for both the future and the now. Although the aforementioned duo are the stand-outs, Fielding Bible indicates that the Cubs have above-average defensive play at every position except right field – and even then, with -1 defensive runs saved on the season, it is very close. Considering the quality at the plate that first-choice right fielder Kyle Tucker brings, this is an infinitesimally small price to pay.

Every single regular in the Cubs’ hitting line-up has an ERA+ of over 100, indicating above-average production. The line-up is very strong. The defense is stellar. No matter what the Brewers do, the Cubs, if they can just shore up their rotation beyond Matthew Boyd and Shota Imanaga, have a chance to win it all this season. And it begins with their defensive excellence up the middle.

Mark Deeks I am continuously intrigued by the esoterica and minutiae of all the aspects of building a basketball team. I want to understand how to build the best basketball teams possible. No, I don’t know why, either. More about Mark Deeks