The 2025 season for the Chicago Cubs is going to turn into a “division title or bust” type of year relatively quickly. Other teams in the NL Central didn’t necessarily do enough to improve themselves as much as the Cubs did this offseason, so the crown really is theirs for the taking.
Chicago hasn’t won a division championship since the COVID-shortened 2020 campaign where there were only 60 regular season games. That season turned into nothing for the Cubs, as they were swept at home in a three-game series against the Marlins where they only plated one run in two games.
2020 was also the last time Chicago appeared in the postseason in general, and plenty has changed since then. The 2021 trade deadline marked the end of an era in Wrigleyville, with the front office shipping out most of the fan favorites from the 2016 World Series squad.
A different energy is surrounding this Cubs team ahead of the 2025 season. Hope is in the air down at Spring Training in Mesa and there’s plenty of reasons to be optimistic. One of the club’s newer veteran additions had nothing but good things to say about their outlook on the year prior to leaving for Japan in just a few weeks.
Justin Turner is pumped for this years’ Chicago Cubs group
Justin Turner was signed on February 18 to a one-year deal worth $6 million to bolster the bench this year. The 40-year-old has been with many successful teams in his lengthy career, as he was on the Dodgers World Series team in 2020. After his stint with Los Angeles came to an end following the 2021 season, Turner has played for three different organizations over the past two years.
Turner’s optimism for the 2025 Cubs was easy to see when talking to the media on Wednesday. He said that the team is “just a good baseball group” and that he sees the vision to where this squad could go this season.
Chicago’s youth movement is making its’ way through the farm system right now and certain prospects will get legitimate shots to be difference makers this spring. Former top prospect Pete Crow-Armstrong has a chance to be extremely special as the team’s everyday center fielder and Matt Shaw will get the nod at third base when he is fully recovered from his oblique injury.
The blend of veterans and young talent on the Cubs this season gives them hope to outplay their 83 win total the past two seasons. Jed Hoyer addressed the bullpen after it was faulty in 2024 and he made a big swing at a superstar bat in Kyle Tucker this winter. Moves like those should put Chicago in a position to be the favorites out of the NL Central.
The Chicago Cubs will lean on Justin Turner and others for depth
Turner and company will be needed off the bench to help Chicago get through the 162-game regular season slate. It is expected for Turner to serve as the right-handed hitting option at first base, but he might need to help out at the hot corner now with Shaw’s injury.
Jon Berti, Vidal Brujan and Nicky Lopez are other depth pieces that are competing to join Turner on the Cubs bench for Opening Day. Two of these three could possibly start in Japan with Shaw and Nico Hoerner both not making the trip. The top end talent will win the Cubs many games this season, but they won’t get by without their depth at all spots which is why the front office loaded up this winter.
Chicago Cubs will be just fine at third base, even without Matt Shaw
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