Analytics prove what fans already knew: the Chicago Cubs are fun to watch

Here are the factors that determined just how 'fun' the Cubs are

Star Power - 4.5

The first category was 'star power,' which was based on how many players the team had in the top 100 players of ESPN's Top 100 list. This category saw the Cubs as a little below average at 4.5, but this team’s lack of star power is something that we were already well aware of.

Youth - 6

The next category was youth which, was based on the Fangraphs WAR from players on the current roster in their first or second season in the majors. 

Based on that definition a six makes sense for the Cubs because Christopher Morel is technically too old to be exciting within those constraints and the Cubs’ second-best farm system in MLB can’t be taken into too much account because the projections never give too much love to players who aren't on the Opening Day roster.

This is the area the team can grow the most in terms of watchability for this season, as players like Owen Caissie, Pete Crow-Armstrong, Matt Shaw and Cade Horton force their way to Wrigley.

Baserunning - 10

Baserunning was the third category which was based on Fangraphs team baserunning metric from 2023 with minor changes thanks to roster changes. 

The Cubs were more active on the basepaths last season than every team except for the Tampa Bay Rays. It will be interesting to see if that trend continues under new manager Craig Counsell or if that was something that will go away now that David Ross is no longer in the organization, but the Cubs certainly still seem to have the speed to be a problem for other teams.