4 Cubs who drastically exceeded expectations in 2024

The fact that Jed Hoyer's two biggest offseason additions from a year ago will appear on this list and the Chicago Cubs still missed the postseason, going 83-79 and finishing 10 games behind Milwaukee in the division, says a lot about the state of this roster heading into the winter.

The takeaway from Jed Hoyer's end-of-season presser is that the team will continue to hope for players to outperform projections next year, a questionable strategy, to say the least. But several players did just that in 2024, turning heads in the best of ways.

Here are 4 Cubs players who drastically exceeded expectations this season.

1. Shota Imanaga looks like the free-agent steal of last winter after a stellar rookie campaign

Last winter, it was all eyes on Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto. Ohtani, who was finally set to escape the doldrums of the Angels organization, had his eyes set on a record-setting contract. Yamamoto, a 25-year-old hurler from Japan, was hyped as the best pitcher to come out of the NPB in years.

Both wound up signing with the Los Angeles Dodgers, with the two contracts totaling a staggering $1.025 billion. That's a level the Cubs have never - and likely will never - play at, but they somewhat quietly locked up the second-best pitcher making the jump from Japan, Shota Imanaga, a move that now looks like a stroke of genius.

Imanaga, who will receive down-ballot support for NL Rookie of the Year, won 15 games, pitching to a 2.91 ERA in 173 1/3 innings. He led the league with a 6.21 strikeout-to-walk ratio and earned an All-Star selection in his first big-league campaign. Frankly, he kept this team afloat all year long - with the Cubs going 23-6 in his starts. Without him, a season that ended in disappointment could have been far, far worse.

2. Michael Busch established himself as a legitimate answer at first base, both offensively and defensively

Last winter, Chicago acquired Michael Busch from the Dodgers, giving the former first-rounder his first real opportunity to play on an everyday basis. He settled in nicely for the Cubs, riding the ups and downs of 162 games as well as one can expect a rookie to, finishing the year with solid numbers across-the-board.

Busch appeared in all but 10 games for Chicago, putting up a 118 OPS+ with 28 doubles and 21 home runs. He even graded out above-average defensively, which is worth mentioning because it was his first full season playing at first base professionally.

If you go into 2025 with Busch as your everyday first baseman, no one is complaining. Now, if Hoyer somehow pulls off a trade for someone like Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Busch is the odd man out, but I don't think anyone would be complaining. His good eye at the plate would make him valuable coming off the bench, and he has experience at multiple other positions, as well.

3: Rookie right-hander Porter Hodge came out of nowhere to be a shutdown late-inning reliever

Chicago Cubs rookie Porter Hodge made his big-league debut in late May and never looked back.

He has barely a dozen relief appearances at Triple-A under his belt, but that didn't matter for the young right-hander, who joined the relief mix and later took over ninth-inning duties late in the year following the downfalls of both Adbert Alzolay and Hector Neris.

Hodge made 39 appearances on the year, working to a 1.88 ERA with a 31.7 percent strikeout rate. You have to be careful betting too heavily on him heading into 2025 given a brutal 11.6 percent walk rate that's the reddest of red flags out there, but he overcame that by limiting contact (.179 xBA).

His sweeper was particularly effective, with opponents batting just .070 against the pitch and slugging only .105. Along with Tyson Miller and Jorge Lopez, Hodge helped stabilize a bullpen that really struggled early on in the season but wound up being one of the Cubs' biggest strengths down the stretch.