Carson Kelly's cycle highlights an important takeaway of Cubs' 2025 roster

After a deflating loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks on Sunday, the Chicago Cubs responded with an 18-3 victory over the Athletics on Monday night.

While the Athletics were making history for having an Opening Day at a minor-league stadium, the Cubs made history of their own during their victory. While Kyle Tucker homered for the third time in as many games, veteran catcher Carson Kelly was the talk of the night.

Kelly became the first Cubs player to hit for the cycle since Mark Grace in 1993. Beyond hitting for the cycle, Kelly also drove in 5 of the 18 runs the Cubs scored on Monday.

Kelly's night on Monday was a reminder of one area of the Cubs' roster that needs to be better this season. While not the primary reason for the Cubs' woes during the middle months of the 2024 season, there is no question that the production the Cubs had from Miguel Amaya and Yan Gomes to open last season played a part in the inconsistency of the offense.

Carson Kelly's historic night highlights an important aspect of the Cubs' 2025 roster

Among the early takeaways of the first week of the season has been that the Cubs' catching tandem has been much better than it was last season.

Amaya has picked up where he left off after tweaking his swing mechanics during the final months of the 2024 season. Amaya has collected 7 RBI over the last week while posting a 137wRC+. Of course, after Monday night, Kelly's wRC+ is sitting at 340 through his first 13 plate appearances of the season.

If Amaya and Kelly can be producers for the Cubs' offense, that will go a long way toward Jed Hoyer's goal of the roster outperforming their projections this season. The Cubs failed at the margins last season and that is why fans are giving them very little room for error this season.