Chicago Cubs feature potential for the most powerful lineup in baseball

A Giancarlo Stanton-Aaron Judge combination is hard to top. But the Chicago Cubs can easily make the case for having the most powerful lineup in the game.

The Chicago Cubs bolster one of the most dangerous and powerful lineups in all of baseball, top to bottom. Their lineup has so much pop, they have the potential to lead the entire league in home runs in 2018.

According to third baseman Kris Bryant, the Cubs have the potential for everyone in the lineup to hit 25 home runs or more. Based on who Chicago boasts in their lineup, it’s hard to disagree with the slugger.

Let’s take a run through the Cubs’ potential powerful batting order.

Outfielder Ian Happ won the battle to be the Cubs’ leadoff man. Hitting seven homers this spring certainly helped his case. He rewarded the team by hitting the first pitch he saw on Opening Day out of the park. Happ hit 24 home runs in his rookie season last year and the expectations are that he will only build on that.

Third baseman Kris Bryant has been one of the Cubs most dangerous bats in the lineup since 2015. In his first three seasons, he blasted 94 career home runs. The former MVP is more than capable of hitting 40 home runs in a season as he came up just short in 2016 when he hit 39 long balls.

First baseman Anthony Rizzo has been nothing but consistent for the Cubs. In his last four seasons he has hit 32, 31, 32 and 32 home runs, respectively. It wouldn’t be surprising to see the slugger reach 40 home runs for the first time in his career hitting in this dangerous Cubs lineup.

The Cubs cleanup hitter Willson Contreras should have no trouble hitting 30 home runs this season. Last season the catcher hit 21 home runs while dealing with injuries and missing nearly a month of the season. Contreras showed off his power this spring by hitting four absolute moon-shots.

The Cubs young sluggers will only continue to get better.

Slugging outfielder Kyle Schwarber could potentially lead the Cubs in home runs this season. In what many consider a down year, Schwarber still totaled 30 home runs last season. He has hit two no-doubt home runs in three games so far this year and if he’s frequently in the lineup he has the potential to hit 40 home runs.

The young shortstop Addison Russell was not healthy last season and only managed to hit 12 home runs. Russell is certainly capable of putting up big power numbers and even hitting 30 home runs. We caught a glimpse of Russell’s power in 2016 when he hit 21 dingers and was selected as an All-Star.

Perhaps the Cub with the hardest swing rounds out the batting order in Javier Baez. The second baseman is coming off his best season yet in which he hit 23 home runs. The free-swinging Baez has always had the potential to surpass 30 home runs but in order to do so he will need to cut down on his strikeouts.

Next: Good will come with the bad for Cubs' Schwarber

Last season, the Cubs hit a total of 223 home runs which was the ninth most in baseball after only hitting 199 long balls the previous year. These young Cub sluggers have tons of potential and are improving each and every year. If the Cubs stay healthy and everyone takes another step forward this season they will have a real chance to hit the most home runs in all of baseball.