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At the All Star break, the Chicago Cubs are among the top teams in baseball. Their journey to 57-39 is largely due to several players taking big steps this year. While guys like Kyle Tucker, Matthew Boyd, and Carson Kelly were not on the team last year, many others were. The 2024 Cubs were a mediocre 47-51 at the break, and several players did not have the same type of first half breakouts they did this year.
Here, we will compare some first half performances in 2025 to 2024 to see some notable differences.
How have the Cubs' most important players fared during the first half of the 2025 season?
Pete Crow-Armstrong
2024 first half: .203/.253/.329 with a .582 OPS, 3 HR, 17 RBI, and 63 wRC+ in 57 games
2025 first half: .265/.302/.544 with an .847 OPS, 25 HR, 71 RBI, and 133 wRC+ in 95 games
What a difference a year makes. PCA had a small taste of MLB action in 2023, but only 11 games worth. His first real sustained run in the majors was in 2024, when he went through a lot of growing pains and adjustments.
The sample size is not quite the same, but the difference is still well worth noting. As most recall, he started to turn the corner as 2024 went on and continues to ascend in 2025. Who would have thought he'd have 25 homers in less than 100 games this year? If you told a Cubs fan in March that PCA would hit 25 all season, they would have jumped for joy.
Seiya Suzuki
2024 first half: .270/.334/.479 with an .813 OPS, 13 HR, 45 RBI, and 126 wRC+ in 72 games
2025 first half: .263/.319/.547 with an .867 OPS, 25 HR, 77 RBI, and 138 wRC+ in 92 games
The average and OBP might be a few ticks down, but the slug and run production is way up. In the first half of 2025, Suzuki already set a new career high in home runs and RBIs. The hopes of him being a 35-40 homer hitter in the majors are looking solid right now, assuming he remains healthy (something Suzuki struggled with in both the 2023 and 2024 first halves). His 77 RBI are top-five in baseball. Not an All Star? Ridiculous.
Dansby Swanson
2024 first half: .212/.282/.350 with a .632 OPS, 9 HR, 31 RBI, and 78 wRC+ in 86 games
2025 first half: .253/.301/.429 with a .730 OPS, 16 HR, 47 RBI, and 103 wRC+ in 95 games
Yes, the RISP hitting has been very frustrating for Swanson, but the overall production in the 2025 first half was much better than 2024. Last year, it was a real struggle the first few months, as it was clear he was not 100% healthy. His 16 homers so far this year already matches his total from 2024, as he looks to be on pace for nearly 30 home runs, which would be a career high. Even if the OPS is only slightly above league average, it's pretty notable when it's nearly 100 points higher than his performance last year.
Michael Busch
2024 first half: .271/.357/.466 with an .823 OPS, 12 HR, 36 RBI, and 130 wRC+ in 89 games
2025 first half: .290/.375/.550 with a .925 OPS, 19 HR, 59 RBI, and 160 wRC+ in 89 games
Busch's 2024 first half was very good... and it was all that much better in 2025. This is the same sample size worth of games too, and nearly the same amount of plate appearances (336 vs. 341). His recent run over the past few weeks has greatly boosted his numbers and now he sits in the top-five of qualified hitters in OPS at the break. He has also passed his fWAR total from last year (2.2), sitting at 2.7.