3 Chicago Cubs positives we need to see to make the playoffs

With 51 games left in the Chicago Cubs season, the team currently sits three games over .500 with a record of 57-54. It has been an impressive stretch since the All-Star break, with the team now having gone 15-7 in that span. Still, more needs to be done for the Cubs to truly be looked at as a serious contender this season. After falling flat against the NL-best Atlanta Braves on Friday afternoon, it was a reminder of how much work this team has to do to get back to 2016 form.

Therefore, we’ve compiled three prime examples of what we believe can help put the Cubs over the top in the NL Central and back to the postseason. Let’s dive right in, starting with the need to see a little more power at the plate from cornerstones Ian Happ and Seiya Suzuki.

3 positives to make the playoffs - 3. More slug from Happ/Suzuki

As cornerstones of the team that had multi-year deals structured around them, we want to see more slug from Ian Happ and Seiya Suzuki. Lately, Happ has been doing just that, with a slash of .250/.387/.833, four home runs, and seven RBIs over his past seven games. Happ is no stranger to second-half surges. In the month of August, he recorded slugging percentages of .532 in 2022, and .543 in 2021. That trend has continued so far, as he’s already blasted two homers and two doubles through the first four games in August this season.

Suzuki, on the other hand, is still in the single digits for home runs with nine, and sub .400 in the slug department with a mark of just .389. He has recently been somewhat demoted further down the lineup, which is understandable given this offense's overall hot streak of late. Suzuki has the ability to be a key weapon in this lineup but tends to go through rough patches. If he and Happ can start knocking around more extra-base hits, the overall run production on this team will skyrocket to new heights.