The Chicago Cubs are having a wildly entertaining start to their 2025 season.
The dynamic Cubs offense, with its blend of power, speed, and never-give-up grit, has sent fans into a tizzy and sparked hopes for the team’s first playoff appearance since the abbreviated 2020 season. The shift in team dynamics is dramatic, compared to last season’s sluggish and frequently frustrating lack of production.
The biggest change from last year to this year, of course, was the acquisition of multi-tool right fielder Kyle Tucker, who came to Chicago in a 3-for-1 trade with the Houston Astros. Although the gamble was a big one– giving up three quality players (Isaac Paredes, Heyden Wesneski, and Cam Smith) for a player in Tucker, who is in his last year before becoming a free agent– the deal has certainly paid off.
Kyle Tucker Is An Elite
The 28-year-old Tucker currently leads the team in hits, home runs, RBIs, and is second in batting average.
In the overall MLB picture, Tucker also stacks up nicely against just about everybody else in baseball. As of this writing, he’s tied for third in home runs, tied for second in RBIs, and tied for third in hits.
The three-time all-star is off to such a scorching start that ESPN, with their composite MLB Top 100 Player Ratings, ranks him as the no. 2 player in all of baseball.
Here is ESPN’s brief explanation regarding their ratings methodology:
“Who is the No. 1 player in baseball right now? The MLB Player Ratings seek to answer that question, featuring four statistical metrics for evaluating player performance. The metrics come from the following sources: ESPN, The Elias Sports Bureau, Inside Edge and The Baseball Encyclopedia.
An overall top-100 ranking is provided based on the players’ average rankings among the four metrics. Thus, the player with the highest average ranking is listed as the top-rated player. In addition to viewing the overall rankings, users can view rankings for each individual metric.”
Tucker finds himself ranked just behind the New York Yankees’ Aaron Judge, but ahead of the San Diego Padres’ Fernando Tatis Jr. and the Arizona Diamondbacks’ Corbin Carroll.
Tucker Has Made A Difference
Apr 15, 2025; San Diego, California, USA; Chicago Cubs right fielder Kyle Tucker (30) hits a single during the fifth inning against the San Diego Padres at Petco Park. Mandatory Credit: Denis Poroy-Imagn Images
His impact on the Cubs has clearly been immense and intense, both offensively and defensively. Even so early in the season and with such a limited sample size, it’s hard to recall a Cub who has been this legitimately all-around and game-shaking good.
There is, of course, plenty of raging debate over whether Chicago ownership will pay the hefty price to extend Tucker beyond this year and well into the future. That is a legitimate concern, even as the feel-good vibes wash over Wrigley Field. But that’ll have to be an issue for another day.
For now, Tucker is killing it and the fans are loving it.
But Tucker isn’t alone in getting ESPN Top 100 attention.
Other Chicago Cubs In the Top 100
All in all, the surging Cubs have five players ranked within the top 39 in all of baseball, per the sports news powerhouse.
Aside from Tucker at no. 2, there’s Seiya Suzuki at no. 28, Pete Crow-Armstrong at no. 32, Michael Busch at no. 34, and Ian Happ at no. 39.
And if one wanted to expand the Cubs search to the full Top 100, they have Carson Kelly listed at no. 66 (the lower ranking is surely due entirely to his limited at bats) and Shota Imanaga tied for no. 71.
This is a good time for the Cubs right now and those good times are showing up on the ledgers of the stats experts.
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