2025 Team Previews - Chicago Cubs
As part of my 2025 team previews series, I go through all fantasy-relevant players on the Chicago Cubs ahead of the 2025 season.
Check out the intro and team links page here.
Intro
When I think of the Cubs, I think of the time 2:20. That is when their afternoon games always start in eastern time. I remember as a kid being home for summer vacation and turning on WGN to watch the Cubs at 2:20. I think they do that as an ode to how long it took them to get lights in Wrigley Field or something like that. Don’t quote me on that, and I don’t even really care why they do it.
For fantasy purposes, it’s kind of a pain in the ass. Friday games are supposed to be at night, but like 10 times a year, the Cubs throw a 2:20 Friday game at you, and that locks your roster four hours before it needs to be locked.
Like I said in the Red Sox intro, I appreciate the tradition and the nostalgia and stuff - but we have electricity now guys, we can probably go to the old 7:05 starting time.
Roster
The NL Central is pretty wide open. It’s been a few years before it’s felt like any team actually wants to win the division. The Cubs have done the most in that regard this offseason, adding Kyle Tucker and some SP depth after trading away Cody Bellinger.
It’s a strong roster, but not one you see as a World Series favorite or anything like that.
I could see that bottom third of the lineup being pretty bad, but I could also see it being pretty good! So that’s something. I do think this could be a 60th or 70th-percentile lineup.
The pitching staff leaves some to be desired. They’ll be rolling about a pretty shaky arm at least 60% of the time.
Imanaga and Steele are a great 1-2 punch, but it’s hard to feel great when your team is rolling out any of those last three names. But at the same time, those names are far from being the worst guys in the league. It’s a solid roster, and there are a bunch of fantasy-relevant names we have to get to.
Hitters
Kyle Tucker
Age: 28
Pos: OF
The Cubs made a big splash in December with the trade to get Kyle Tucker. As I probably said in the intro (I will write it later), the Cubs are going for it this year. That should mean good things for their ability to score runs, and it’s very likely they’ll be playing meaningful baseball the whole way.
Tucker missed a ton of time last year, but his numbers in his half-season were insane.
He could very well have been the #3 fantasy player behind Ohtani and Judge. It’s foolish to extrapolate that out, but it was a 40-20 pace with a high batting average.
It’s not like this was a shock, either. Tucker has hit .280/.362/.529 with 113 homers and 79 steals in 2,179 PAs since 2021. He’s an elite player.
Going from Houston to Chicago is a slight park downgrade, I think. Deep right field is really deep there, and that could rob him of a few homers - and he’ll also have to deal with more weather stuff than ever before.
But that’s enough; we all know Tucker is a first-round bat. I don’t feel like I need to prove that.
Rank
Projection
The projection makes him the #4 overall player in my model.
669 PA, 106 R, 31 HR, 94 RBI, 26 SB, .282/.385/.517, $17.88 roto value
Seiya Suzuki
Age: 30
Pos: OF
The Cubs have a bit of a logjam in the outfield, and Suzuki’s name has come up in trade talks. For now, he remains in Chicago. His young MLB career has been a strong one, but he’s had trouble staying on the field. Here are the yearly numbers:
In a lot of ways, 2024 was his best work. He set career-highs in both homers and steals and posted another strong batting average. The guy is an underrated fantasy player.
The launch profile is fantastic:
That keeps his floor quite high, especially if he repeats a double-digit stolen base attempt rate next year.
The one thing working in his favor right now is that it looks like he underperformed in K% last year. His contact rate was 75%. If I look at all hitters between a 74% and 76% contact rate, the average strikeout rate is 22.4%. Suzuki was five points above that, second-highest in the group:
Given that he had posted a 23.3% K% in his first two seasons, I think he’ll be on his way back under 25% next year. And that will only help the already solid production.
I can’t find any problems with the guy. We just need a full season of health (and maybe being the primary DH will help that), and I think he’ll be a steal in drafts. Things could improve even more if he gets dealt to a team with a more advantageous ballpark. I’m buying.
Rank
Projection
619 PA, 80 R, 24 HR, 85 RBI, 11 SB, .260/.344/.455, $11.83 roto value
Ian Happ
Age: 30
Pos: OF
All Ian Happ did last year was hit .241/.339/.439 with 25 homers and 13 steals. That was good for a #35 finish on my player rater among hitters.
He has been a consistent fantasy asset, but his lack of ceiling has kept him off of many people’s radars. His ADP is around 150 for this year. I think that’s a new high for him, but he’s still not costing you a top-ten-round pick. That said, it would be a little bit of a “buy high." Last season was his best work, and he’s no spring chicken at the age of 30 now. I can see both sides of the argument, but let’s just keep going here.
He’s never been a positive in batting average. In 2022, he hit .271, but that was pretty easy to sell for the next year upon seeing the .234 xBA, and sure enough, he’s fallen under .250 the last two years.
He contributes in homers, gives you some steals, and plays every day at the top of the lineup. That has made him a very nice source of counting stats. He scored 89 runs last year and drove in 85 more. That’s a very good season. Over the last two years, he’s scored 175 times with 169 RBI.
Happ is simply a very solid and consistent contributor. And he really perfected the launch profile last year:
The 106.2 90th-percentile EV was higher than I thought we’d see, and he posted a high 38% sweet spot rate.
I have nothing more to say. If you want safe, positive production from your second outfielder between rounds 10 and 15, I recommend Ian Happ.
Rank
Projection
678 PA, 94 R, 25 HR, 68 RBI, 13 SB, .247/.348/.438, $11.70 roto value
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