{"id":93066,"date":"2024-12-31T14:46:42","date_gmt":"2024-12-31T19:46:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/?p=93066"},"modified":"2024-12-31T14:46:42","modified_gmt":"2024-12-31T19:46:42","slug":"three-positions-cubs-postseason-in-2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2024\/12\/31\/three-positions-cubs-postseason-in-2025\/","title":{"rendered":"Three Crucial Roles to Observe as Cubs Target a Postseason Run in 2025"},"content":{"rendered":"

There are three positions to watch carefully as the Cubs near the 2025 season. Manager Craig Counsell<\/a> set the bar at 90 wins<\/a> last September. President of baseball operations<\/a> Jed Hoyer and general manager Carter Hawkins said they were on the same page. But so far this offseason hasn\u2019t offered much evidence that they meant what they said. Offseason trading has yielded cash reserves and a highlight or two, but plenty of question marks remain. Here are three positions to watch as the 2025 season slowly approaches.<\/p>\n

Three Crucial Roles to Observe as Cubs Target a Postseason Run in 2025<\/h2>\n

Question Marks Remain for the Cubs This Offseason<\/strong><\/h3>\n

First of all, the Cubs are almost certainly not done spending this offseason. They’re bound to do more business with two months to go before preseason ball begins and over $70 million in reserves. Odds are good that they\u2019ll be looking to add more starting pitching and bullpen depth. So, our focus here will be on three positions to watch and the players who will fill them, both known and unknown.<\/p>\n

Center field: Will PCA Become A Five-Tool Guy?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

The Cubs haven\u2019t had a 50-plus base-stealer since Juan Pierre swiped 58 bags<\/a> during the 2006 season. If he continues to improve his batting average and on-base percentage, Pete Crow-Armstrong<\/a> is going to join that club. Simply put, PCA is one of the most electric players in MLB. His outfield play, arm strength and accuracy, and baserunning skills are elite. But to become the superstar five-tool player he can be he\u2019s going to have to continue to improve at the plate.<\/p>\n

This is a guy who finished sixth in the NL in triples (6), and 13 in stolen bases (27), and had a highlight reel inside-the-park home run. What’s more, he only played in 123 games, and he didn’t start hitting effectively until August. With a bit of coaching and a renewed approach PCA\u2019s slash went from .197\/.232\/.379 in July to .314\/.375\/.558 in August. Then his numbers dipped again in September. If he\u2019s going to be effective, the Cubs are going to want to see his OBP well into the .300\u2019s. Add a decent batting average and some slug and PCA will be off to the races. Ideally, the Cubs would want to see 20-plus home runs out of this position next year. PCA has it in him, but can he get there? That\u2019s the question.<\/p>\n

Catcher: How Will the Tandem of Amaya and Kelly Perform?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Miguel Amaya<\/a>, 25, and Carson Kelly<\/a>, 30, combined to slash .235\/.298\/.365 last season, with 17 home runs and 84 RBI. The Kelly acquisition solves two problems the Cubs had at the position last year: solid experience and strong defense. Midseason acquisition Christian Bethancourt<\/a> filled in nicely in a defensive role but lacks the bat skills the younger Amaya can learn from. Kelly gives Counsell an excellent defensive catcher<\/a> a game manager that can serve as a mentor to Amaya.<\/p>\n

Like PCA, Amaya made healthy strides at the plate<\/a> during the second half of last season. He hit extremely well in July and August (.872 and .914 OPS, respectively) before faltering down the stretch. In the interest of preservation Counsell will certainly use both of these guys in different situations over the course of the schedule. Their combined average was just short of the league average last season. But again, it\u2019s in the areas of OBP and slugging that the Cubs will be looking for improvement. The Northsiders will want at least league-average slashes in both of these categories with 20-plus home runs and 80-90 RBI. That combined with solid play across the board defensively would be a vast improvement over the past several years.<\/p>\n

Third base: Here We Go Again!<\/strong><\/h3>\n

One has to wonder what the front office\u2019s malfunction is at third base. After trying and failing to convert three middle-infielders to the position over the past two or three years, Hoyer finally went out and got Isaac Paredes<\/a> at the trade deadline. And now he\u2019s back out the door, again, and with the Cubs number one draft pick Cam Smith<\/a>, no less! While attaching Kyle Tucker<\/a> at what appears to be the peak of his career<\/a> was great, the dearth of depth created at the hot corner has to make Cub fans shake their heads. Honestly, what is going on?<\/p>\n

One caveat, here. The Cubs are reportedly interested in Seattle Mariners third baseman Josh Rojas<\/a>. Rojas, 30, is a very good fielder<\/a> and a better-than-average baserunner who walks a fair amount. He is listed second behind the Houston Astros’ Alex Bregman<\/a> among free agent third basemen. There isn’t much bat here, but the 2.9 WAR infielder would make a decent replacement for Paredes on a short term contract. If that happens, three positions to watch will be reduced to two.<\/p>\n

In the event that doesn’t happen, this preseason\u2019s carousel of third baseman might approach epic proportions. For now, Miles Mastrobuoni<\/a> is the de facto third baseman. Cubs\u2019 number one prospect and MLB number 22 Matt Shaw<\/a> is going to get a chance at the position during Spring Training. Recent acquisition, Vidal Brujan, 26, has played a solid third base in limited appearances. As has late season call-up<\/a>, Luis Vazquez, 25. Minor leaguers Benjamin Cowles, 24, and Gage Workman<\/a>, 25, recently acquired<\/a> from the Detroit Tigers in the Rule 5 draft, are legitimate contenders as well. Cowles and Workman are legitimate third basemen. The others are all conversions of one kind or another. Workman\u2019s power suggests he might make a fine third baseman in the future. But his experience is so far limited to Double-A ball.<\/p>\n

Where Do They Go From Here?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Time will tell which way Counsell, and the Cubs go this season. But as 2025 approaches it isn\u2019t clear whether the Cubs have improved at all during the winter break. The presence of Tucker should add the true power bat they were lacking last year. But the loss of a power bat at third base tempers ones enthusiasm. The starting rotation might be marginally better. The nucleus of Steele, Imanaga and Taillon and the presence of Matthew Boyd<\/a> will provide cover for the likes of Javier Assad<\/a>, Ben Brown<\/a> and Jordan Wicks<\/a> to continue to grow. But pitching overall should be added to these three positions to watch as we enter the new year.<\/p>\n

But by last season\u2019s standards this doesn\u2019t yet look like a 90-win team. That, after all, is the stated goal from Craig Counsell. One can\u2019t escape the feeling that in order to allow the youth movement time to grow, and achieve the desired record, the Cubs\u2019 front office will have to open the safe. That isn\u2019t something they\u2019ve shown much desire to do, historically. It remains to be seen just how much culture change, if any, there has been on Chicago\u2019s Northside.<\/p>\n

Main Photo Credits: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There are three positions to watch carefully as the Cubs near the 2025 season. Manager Craig Counsell set the bar at 90 wins last September. President of baseball operations Jed Hoyer and general manager Carter Hawkins said they were on the same page. But so far this offseason hasn\u2019t offered much evidence that they meant […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5158,"featured_media":93116,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2,24,1071],"tags":[68,69],"class_list":["post-93066","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-cubs","category-mlb","tag-baseball","tag-mlb"],"modified_by":"Evan Mazza, Site Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93066","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5158"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=93066"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93066\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":93117,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93066\/revisions\/93117"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/93116"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=93066"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=93066"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=93066"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}