Chicago Cubs: 5 mind-blowing accomplishments from the 2023 season

1 of 6

The Chicago Cubs will watch the postseason from home for the third straight year, despite a win over the Milwaukee Brewers on Saturday night. It's a disheartening end to a season that held so much promise mere weeks ago - for a number of reasons.

By no means was this year a failure for the Cubs. I know that some people aren't going to agree with that statement, but it's true. The expectations for this team in the beginning of the year were to be competitive, and they were. They fought their way into contention, bought at the deadline and played meaningful games right down until the final day of the season. There's certainly work to do this offseason, but there is a lot to look back on and that gives me confidence for next year.

Here are the most mind-blowing accomplishments from the Cubs' 2023 season.

1. Seiya Suzuki's breakout

When the Cubs signed Seiya Suzuki prior to the 2022 season, the expectation was that he would be a cornerstone of the team's offense and give them a solid boost in the power department. His first year in the big leagues saw Suzuki go on hot streaks, but he never got things going on a consistent basis and spent a good portion of the year in the injured list.

Things seemed more or less the same for the first half of this season where he was basically a league average hitter with a wRC+ of 104. However, Suzuki completely turned things around in the last two months, and his second half numbers are more akin to the guy the Cubs thought they were getting when he first signed his contract.

The Cubs' right fielder has a .313 batting average, 13 home runs, 46 RBI and 18 doubles in the second half. These numbers are similar to Cody Bellinger's second half statistics. If the team can re-sign Bellinger and Suzuki can continue his dominance at the plate, they would be a formidable combination in the lineup.

2. Cody Bellinger's July

Although Bellinger has been a rock for the offense all season long, the month of July was particularly impressive for the 28-year-old slugger. Bellinger collected 24 RBI, 8 home runs, a .400 batting average and a wRC+ of 198. This unbelievable performance garnered Bellinger National League Player of the Month honors.

More importantly, Bellinger's July confirmed that this offense is much worse without him. When he went on a month-long stint on the injured list, the team went on its worst stretch of games until its September swoon. His ability to produce runs has been invaluable to this team and it goes without saying that the team needs to bring him back on a long-term deal this winter.

The front office showed their willingness to compete by not trading him back at the trade deadline so hopefully that's worth something when contract negotiations commence this winter.

3. Mike Tauchman's home run robbery

After the All-Star break, the Cubs had Cody Bellinger back in full swing, the bullpen somewhat figured out and the summer of Mike Tauchman was starting to take shape. With the trade deadline looming, everyone was predicting the team to sell off short-term assets like Bellinger and try again next year.

That is until the team went on a torrid stretch where they won six series in a row to completely turn the season around and solidify themselves as buyers. The crown jewel during this stretch was a tight ballgame against the rival St. Louis Cardinals, where the Cubs were leading by a precarious 3-2 score going into the ninth inning.

Adbert Alzolay had recently been named as the team's closer and he found himself with the tying run on third with two outs and two strikes. Cardinals outfielder Alec Burleson charged one deep to center field that looked by measures to be a walk-off home run. However, Tauchman jumped up and took a home run away to win the game for the Cubs in dramatic fashion.

This catch not only convinced everyone in Cubs fandom that this team was for real, but it also effectively shattered the Cardinals' hopes of competing in 2023. They wound up selling at the deadline and finishing in last place for the first time in over 100 years.

4. 36 runs against the Reds

After dropping their last tow games of July to the Cardinals and Cincinnati Reds respectively, the Cubs stormed out of the gate in August with a 36-run blitz in two games against the Reds at Wrigley Field.

With the Reds making serious noise in the NL Central race at the time, it was wonderful to see them take an absolute beat down from the Cubs. The first game featured 20 runs and 7 home runs from six different players.

Two of them were off the bat of Dansby Swanson and one of them was a scoreboard-damaging blast to right field, courtesy of Bellinger.

The second game featured the Cubs play small ball to come from behind after the Reds took an early 5-2 lead. Late home runs by Ian Happ and Seiya Suzuki capped off a wild two-game, 36-run blitz for the Cubs.

5. Nelson Velazquez's grand slam

This entry is one of those moments that makes me happy to be a fan of baseball in general. You never know what you're gonna get when you go to the ballpark, and Wrigley Field is one of the best environments for unbelievable moments.

Hayden Wesneski took the mound for Chicago and almost immediately put them in the hole. By the second inning, the Seattle Mariners had poured on 7 runs and it looked like a pretty awful time to be a Cubs fan.

But the Cubs came storming back and retook the lead after rookie outfielder Nelson Velazquez cranked a go-ahead grand slam. I was at the park for this game, and I surely wasn't expecting to get postseason-like atmosphere in the third inning of an interleague contest against the Mariners in the second week of the season. But I'm not lying when I say that Wrigley Field was deafening when Velazquez hit that ball.

6. Christopher Morel's home run streak

It's weird to think about how the Cubs started Christopher Morel in Triple-A this year, but he spent an entire month of the season down there mashing home runs before the front office finally put him back in the majors. And he continued to go yard consistently in his first few weeks back with 9 home runs in 12 games during the month of May.

This incredible stretch was obviously not sustainable but it was about the only fun thing about this Cubs team in the month of May as they lost 18 games. At 24-years-old, Morel has been mostly tapped to be the designated hitter as his defensive skills are not akin to the super-utility man role the team originally imagined.

feed

Home / Chicago Cubs News