Monday, August 10

Welcome back to the Cubs Beat newsletter. Jordan Bastian has covered baseball for MLB.com since 2005, including the Cubs since the 2019 season.

When Dansby Swanson was weighing his options in free agency four years ago, something the Cubs said about their vision for the roster stood out. Jed Hoyer, the team’s president of baseball operations, wanted to make defense a big part of the team’s identity.

“It was a pretty big selling point,” Swanson said. “Him kind of saying we have a chance to be really special up the middle as a group.”

At the time, Swanson’s arrival to Chicago moved Nico Hoerner back to second base, creating one of the more athletic duos up the middle in baseball. This was also “before Pete had really become Pete,” as Swanson put it, referring to Cubs center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong, now one of the game’s elite defenders at any position.

That vision that was presented to Swanson became reality, leading to a 2026 Cubs team that is blowing away the field when it comes to defensive metrics. Entering Sunday, the North Siders had 58 Outs Above Average as a team, per Statcast. The 2017 Twins boast the single-season record (66) in the 10-year time period in which OAA has been tracked.

“Just as a whole group now in 2026,” Swanson said, “it’s almost unique in the way it’s so good from every position.”

Looking at OAA, the Cubs’ entire group of infield-outfield regulars is above average: Crow-Armstrong (22), Swanson (15), Hoerner (six), Alex Bregman (five), Michael Busch (four), Seiya Suzuki (four) and Ian Happ (one). The same goes for Fielding Run Value, with Crow-Armstrong (24) and Swanson (10) leading the way.

To say the Cubs are at least twice as good as any other team in the Majors is not an exaggeration, either. Chicago entered Sunday ranked first in MLB with a 62 FRV. The Blue Jays were second at 27. The Cubs had 58 OAA going into Sunday’s action. The D-backs ranked second at 29.

The 62 FRV turned in by Chicago to date is the highest for a team in a season since the 2018 D-backs had a 64 FRV. Last season, the Blue Jays led the Majors with a 45 FRV (the Cubs were second at 40). Since Swanson joined the fold in 2023, the Blue Jays (138) and Cubs (130) rank first and second, respectively, in FRV.

Back in 2016, when the Cubs won the World Series, that defense was lauded as the best in baseball and perhaps one of the greatest units the franchise had assembled. Well, the 2026 Cubs’ 58 OAA here in mid-August is already beyond what the '16 team posted (42 OAA).

“Defenses, just in baseball, aren’t talked about that much,” Swanson said. “Every time you look at the scoreboard, it shows the offense stats. For the pitcher, it shows his ERA. It doesn’t ever show what we’ve done as a team defensively. And I think that’s also the cool part about it, too.

“We have a lot of great individual defenders, but collectively as a group, we’ve played great defense, whether it’s positioning, throwing to the right bases, turning double plays, knocking balls down to keep runs from scoring. There’s more than just what’s in the stats.”

It is no surprise that every pitcher who has joined the Cubs via trade this season -- notably, Kevin Gausman, Clay Holmes and David Peterson -- have quickly mentioned being excited to pitch in front of Chicago’s defenders. The group has helped Peterson enjoy a strong in-season turnaround. Gausman, who made his debut for the team on Friday, raved about it after his start.

“I can’t say enough about this defense. You notice it right away,” Gausman said. “These guys are running all over the place and putting their body on the line. It was a lot of fun.”

Hearing those types of comments brings a smile to Swanson’s face.

“We love to make plays for our pitching staff,” he said. “When you have new guys that come in, you want to make plays even more so for those guys, not necessarily to prove what it’s like playing in front of our defense, but like I’ve said, it’s just a really unique group.”

In 2025, Crow-Armstrong became the first Cubs player in team history with 30 homers, 30 doubles and 30 steals in a season. He is on pace to reach those marks again in '26. Who is the last National League player to go 30-30-30 in back-to-back seasons?

A. Ronald Acuña Jr.

B. Ryan Braun

C. Shohei Ohtani

D. Jimmy Rollins

When the Cubs were in Cincinnati on July 11, manager Craig Counsell moved Suzuki into the lineup’s second spot for the first time this season. It added a power element from the right side behind leadoff man Crow-Armstrong, who is putting up MVP-level production.

“Pete’s got a lot of attention, rightfully so,” Counsell said. “But what Seiya has done behind Pete has been super, super important. They’re forming a one-two punch that is as good as there is in baseball. They’re, certainly, offensively doing a lot of the damage.”

Entering Sunday’s action, the Cubs’ Nos. 1-2 spots had produced a .912 OPS and 151 wRC+ since July 11. Both led the NL and were second in the Majors. Suzuki had been in the second slot in 23 of 24 games in that span, while posting an .867 OPS.

“Seiya is demonstrating what he’s demonstrated to me for the last five years in this league,” Counsell said. “He’s one of the better right-handed hitters in this league. He’s one of the more consistent offensive players in this league. It always helps when you hit near a player who’s having an unbelievable season.”

• Gausman goes seven in Cubs debut after whirlwind week. Read more >>
• Holmes makes long-awaited return, and in new Cubs uniform. Read more >>
• Happ snaps out of offensive outage with homer in KC. Read more >>
• The latest on Cabrera’s comeback timeline for rotation. Read more >>

B. Ryan Braun

Cleveland’s José Ramírez is the most recent player to go 30-30-30 in consecutive seasons in the American League, doing so in 2024-25. Braun achieved the feat in 2011-12 with the Brewers. 

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