Column: Are the Chicago Cubs an elite NL team? Early returns are promising despite some glaring issues.

Chicago Tribune

25-04-2025

I was watching MLB Network on mute Wednesday to avoid hearing the latest news on the New York Yankees when a chyron popped up that piqued my interest.
'Do Cubs Belong Among National League's Elite?'
It was an intriguing topic, but since I already knew the answer would be 'yes,' I didn't bother turning up the sound to listen to my friend Jon Heyman.
The Cubs are back, and it's now official.
And this time it's real?
Maybe.
Last year's 17-9 start proved to be a false spring, one that lulled fans into thinking Craig Counsell replacing David Ross was the real difference between an 83-win Cubs team and the postseason. Then 2024 turned into another 83-win team without a postseason, and fans told themselves they'd need much more evidence in 2025 to get excited.
But here we are again, with a 16-10 Cubs team that has made it through the gauntlet of the Los Angeles Dodgers, San Diego Padres and Arizona Diamondbacks, not to mention the Japan trip and two West Coast trips. The Cubs enter their weekend series against the Philadelphia Phillies as a team whose arrow is pointing up, and for the believers, it's only a matter of how high it will go.
Jed Hoyer, the lame-goose president of baseball operations, is suddenly an early-season candidate for Executive of the Year. Kyle Tucker might be the NL's Most Valuable Player in his walk year, and Pete-Crow Armstrong could start in center field in the All-Star Game.
It's almost a perfect start for a team that could have used the Japan trip and a difficult schedule as excuses for any early setbacks. But late and dramatic comeback wins against the Diamondbacks and Dodgers helped obscure shoddy bullpen performances and inefficiencies at third base.
Fortunately, neither Counsell nor Hoyer is celebrating — or standing still.
'The idea that we can exhale after this is wrong,' Hoyer said Tuesday. 'We had a good April last year, too, and we erased that pretty quickly. I do think last year was a pretty good lesson.'
The 2024 Cubs memorably went from nine games over .500 on April 27 to nine games under on July 3, effectively ending their chances of contending. They simply stopped hitting in late April and didn't recover for more than two months. In 60 games from April 27-July 2, they batted .217 with a .348 slugging percentage and .648 OPS while averaging 3.5 runs per game. Their high-leverage relievers also imploded, including Héctor Neris, who was eventually released on Aug. 20.
Neris is long gone, now pitching in the minors after the Los Angeles Angels signed him following his release from the Atlanta Braves. Yet the Cubs bullpen remains a glaring concern, leading to the lightning-quick decisions to demote Luke Little and Jordan Wicks after poor outings and a shorter leash for Nate Pearson, also sent to Triple-A Iowa.
Drew Pomeranz, 36, is the latest reclamation project, and ex-Cub Michael Fulmer, 32, was signed to a minor-league deal and will report to Iowa. Remember all that talk about the Cubs finally stocking the system with young arms?
Closer Ryan Pressly had his right knee drained, Counsell announced after Wednesday's game, potentially making the late-inning decision-making more difficult. Daniel Palencia, Julian Merryweather and Porter Hodge combined for three one-hit innings Wednesday, but if Pressly is unavailable for any stretch, the Cubs will need another high-leverage reliever and hope those three, and perhaps Pomeranz, can fill the void.
The Cubs' 5.17 ERA from relievers ranked 27th in baseball Thursday, considerably worse than last year's 3.81 ERA and not the mark of an 'elite' team.
So why is it so hard to build a bullpen?
'It's hard for everybody,' Hoyer replied.
Confirmed, though it seems to be an annual conundrum on the North Side. The Cubs had an extended stretch in summer 2023 when Adbert Alzolay, Merryweather, Mark Leiter Jr. and Fulmer solidified the final three or four innings, but injuries and ineffectiveness set in by September, and the Cubs blew a wild-card spot, leading to Ross' ouster.
'You know going into the season that's the area of the team you're going to be constantly working on,' Hoyer said. 'Waivers, trades. … It's not very often if you have a position on the field that's struggling (where) you're going to go on waivers and find someone that's going to help you. In the bullpen, it happens all the time.'
We'll have to take his word for it.
Either way, it looks as if the Cubs bullpen will be a revolving door for the immediate future as Hoyer scours the waiver wires and Counsell searches for a combination that consistently works. They also hope to find a third baseman who can catch the ball and hit on occasion after Rule 5 pick Gage Workman was designated for assignment following his two-error game Tuesday. Workman earned a roster spot in spring training, then quickly lost it in April.
Nicky Lopez, who was let go in spring training and made a mound appearance for the Angels on opening day against the White Sox, is back for another shot, joining Vidal Bruján, Jon Berti and Justin Turner. Matt Shaw was 1-for-13 in his first four games at Iowa, so the rookie who started in Japan is unlikely to return from Des Moines any time soon.
Cubs third basemen are homerless this season and hitting a combined .169, with a league-worst seven errors. They were second-worst last year with 26 combined errors when Christopher Morel, Nick Madrigal and Isaac Paredes were still around.
New faces, same problem.
So it's probably too soon to declare the Cubs an elite NL team. But the good news is Hoyer and Counsell are not waiting weeks or months to let struggling players figure things out, as they did last summer with undeniable success with Crow-Armstrong, who is now one of their most valuable players.
The difference might be that Crow-Armstrong's Gold Glove-caliber defense never suffered, letting Counsell remain patient that PCA's hitting would eventually come around.
This unstated 'do-it-or-depart' methodology might put more pressure on young relievers and the third-base collective to perform.
But so be it.