3 Cubs players who will be better in 2025 and 2 who will be worse

Health can make or break a team - and that's certainly the case for the Chicago Cubs heading into 2025. The good news is two key pieces of the roster played through injury in 2024 and should be back at 100 percent, which will hopefully help them perform at a high level all season long.

While we're hoping for improvement there, there are several arms who could regress this year. The hope is that the sheer depth Jed Hoyer and the front office amassed this winter will step up if that's the case. Let's dive right in on three players who could outperform their numbers from a year ago and two who could take a step in the wrong direction.

Better: A healthy Dansby Swanson could be a key difference-maker for the Cubs

Dansby Swanson hasn't been at full strength in more than a year, playing through injuries in both 2023 and 2024. He got off to a rough start at the plate last season, slashing just .212/.282/.350 in the first half before turning it on down the stretch. Paired with his usual elite defense, Swanson was still a 4.0 WAR player, according to Baseball Reference - but there's certainly room for more offensively.

In his final season with Atlanta before signing with Chicago, Swanson set a career-high, driving in 96 runs to go with 177 hits. He hasn't replicated that level of production with the Cubs but has remained a very valuable player. Back at 100 percent heading into 2025, the Gold Glove infielder could be more of a 25/90 threat, which would help deepen this lineup.

Worse: Javier Assad has outperformed the metrics his entire career

One of a number of Cubs dealing with early spring injuries, right-hander Javier Assad knows he has a role to play on the team this year - the only question is what, exactly, that role will be. Last year, he tied for the team lead, making 29 starts and pitching a career-high 147 innings, working to a 3.73 ERA.

So why is he a prime regression candidate? A closer look at the numbers throws up all kinds of red flags. A 1.97 K/BB ratio isn't sustainable at the big-league level. His ERA was nearly a full run better than his FIP (4.64) and his chase and whiff rates ranked near the bottom of all eligible pitchers. There's just not a lot of margin for error with Assad and one has to think that, at some point, things are going to level off and he'll stop out-performing the peripherals.

Better: Nico Hoerner battled through an injury for much of the 2024 season

Like his double-play partner, Nico Hoerner was never at 100 percent last year. Once the season concluded, he underwent flexor tendon surgery in his right wrist and is expected to be ready early in the regular season.

With his arm strength back, the hope is Hoerner will be able to slide over to shortstop and allow Craig Counsell to give Swanson days off and keep his star shortstop fresh over the course of the season. Despite the injury, Hoerner was, as always, solid in all regards (minus arm strength), accumulating 3.7 bWAR - the third-highest mark on the team.

Worse: Porter Hodge was brilliant - but the league will be ready for him in 2025

No one could have predicted Porter Hodge would emerge as the Cubs' closer heading into last spring. But that's exactly what happened. Despite having only 15 2/3 innings under his belt at Triple-A, the right-hander made the jump to face MLB hitters without missing a beat and established himself as a shutdown late-inning weapon.

Hodge worked to a 1.88 ERA and 0.884 WHIP in 43 appearances, overcoming 4.0 BB/9 thanks, in part, to a penchant for punchouts (he struck out nearly 11 batters per nine). Control will make or break him this year. The stuff definitely plays, but he'll need to cut down on the free passes to keep the self-inflicted damage in check, especially in a high-leverage role.

Better: Jordan Wicks is looking for a bounceback showing after a disappointing year

Coming out of Kansas State, Jordan Wicks was widely regarded as a very intelligent pitcher who was expected to make the jump to the big leagues fairly quickly. He did just that, making his MLB debut in 2023 and heading into 2024 with some fairly high expectations.

Instead of living up to those expectations as a reliable back-end starter, he missed more than two months with an oblique injury and finished the year with a 73 ERA+ in just 46 innings of work. There's a decent chance he opens the year at Triple-A, but there's no doubt he'll need to pitch meaningful innings at Wrigley Field if the Cubs are going to win a division title and punch their ticket to October.