One Chicago Cubs player poised to breakout in 2025

There's an element to the beginning of the 2025 season that should have Chicago Cubs equally ecstatic and terrified.

His name is Pete Crow-Armstrong.

The Cubs' top prospect has graduated into being a full-time starting center fielder at the Major League level. During the second half of the season, Crow-Armstrong's offensive profile has come into focus. Through 191 plate appearances during the second half of the season, Crow-Armstrong is slashing .277/.328/.480 with a 122 wRC+.

It's been a showing that has proven why Crow-Armstrong has sat atop the Cubs' prospect rankings in recent seasons. It's also been a showing that has many, including Ian Happ, excited about what a full season of this production from Crow-Armstrong would like for the Cubs.

While speaking with 670 The Score on Tuesday, Happ explained what having Crow-Armstrong for a full season will mean for the Cubs in 2025.

“He’s got all the tools to do it, right?” Happ said on the Bernstein & Holmes Show on Tuesday. “His defense and baserunning, the value that he’s going to provide there from the WAR system, it’s always going to be fantastic. You get a full season of him in center field and him running the bases and stealing bags, that’s going to be huge.

Happ did not hold back on his projections for Crow-Armstrong in 2025 as he expects him to possibly be a 6-WAR player.

Pete Crow-Armstrong will be defining play in the Cubs' 2025 roster construction.

When Jed Hoyer begins to construct the Cubs' 2025 roster, Crow-Armstrong is going to be a player that he has in mind. In fact, it's not out of the question that Crow-Armstrong finishes the 2025 season as the best position player on the Cubs' roster. The concerning part in that for Cubs fans is that Hoyer may use that as a crutch this offseason.

When Theo Epstein was constructing the Cubs' World Series team of 2016, one of his stated goals was to have a roster that included three 5-WAR players. That sentiment has been lost upon Hoyer. The fear is that Hoyer will project Crow-Armstrong as one of those players next season but stop short of adding another this offseason. Hoyer would much rather have his 5-WAR players come from within than pay the premium to bring them onto the Major League team from outside of the organization.

Assuming Crow-Armstrong maintains this offensive production, a full season of him in center field for the Cubs in 2025 will be an impact move but it can't be the impact move that defines the Cubs' offseason.