Cubs slugger Seiya Suzuki just set a new career-high in homers - and it's still June

Seiya Suzuki might have taken a backseat to Kyle Tucker in the headlines on Saturday night, but he accomplished a notable feat. In the top of the eighth inning of the Chicago Cubs' 12-3 win over the Houston Astros, Suzuki hit his 22nd home run of the season. That is 22 homers in 79 games, and while it's not even July yet, he has just set a new MLB career-high in homers.

Suzuki hit 21 home runs in 132 games last year, 20 homers in 138 games in 2023 and 14 homers in 111 games in 2022. His career-high in Japan was 38 in 2021, which Cubs fans would love to see him match this year. Regardless, he has already surpassed his MLB-career high with plenty of season left.

Seiya Suzuki living up to the hype surrounding him early in his MLB career

Hitting 20 homers is nothing to turn your nose up at, but it's fair to say many Cubs fans hoped Suzuki could increase his power production going into this season. Being a 30+ homer guy in Japan was an indication he had this type of pop in him, and one cannot help but wonder what he could have done last year had he not had oblique issues for a chunk of the season. As long as he is healthy this year, he is in great shape to flirt with 35+ homers.

It's not a full-season sample size, and the numbers can change a bit by season's end, but in 79 games, Suzuki is hitting .261/.316/.547 with an .863 OPS. Over his previous two years, he hit .284/.361/.484 with an .845 OPS cumulatively. Higher slug and run production, lower on the on-base percentage. His average throughout the season tends to fluctuate between .245-.285 marks, having that streaky nature in him, but the OPB is interesting to keep an eye on. His walk rate (eight percent) is a few ticks down compared to his (10 percent), though not overly dramatic.

As mentioned before, this is a smaller sample size, but the point is that he could have a year where the OBP is notably down from 2023-2024 and still have his best season in the Majors with his power and run production.

Now that Suzuki has set a new career-high in homers, he is on the cusp of setting a new RBI high-water mark, as well. His career-high is 74, and he is at 69. This could get a bit more attention, seeing as Suzuki is among baseball's RBI leaders, tied with AL MVP candidate Cal Raleigh.