This Mike Tauchman-Cody Bellinger comparison is a huge red flag for the Cubs

Mike Tauchman is making $1.95 million this season. Cody Bellinger, meanwhile, is bringing home $27.5 million - making him the highest-paid player on the Chicago Cubs roster. Yet their performance has been almost identical, which has been a major problem for a team searching for more offensive firepower.

Bellinger hasn't been bad, by any means, but he's completely failed to slug (.269/.331/.410) which was a major piece of his resurgent campaign in 2023 when he slugged .525 and racked up 56 extra-base hits en route to NL Comeback Player of the Year honors. That's left a void in the middle of the Cubs' lineup that was constructed with the hope he would replicate his performance from a year ago.

Currently on the IL with a broken left middle finger, there's still no timetable for Bellinger's return to the lineup. We'll likely get an update from the team at some point this weekend now that the All-Star break is in the rearview mirror, but the simple truth is this: at no point this year has he been the driving force behind the offense.

Tauchman, meanwhile, has been that guy a few times this year. In April, the veteran posted a .955 OPS, playing a major role in the Cubs' hot start. He's since cooled dramatically, and in an ideal scenario is a platoon bat off the bench given his dramatic left/right splits. But the fact that, despite nearly 100 fewer plate appearances, he's been nearly as valuable (0.9 bWAR to 1.1 bWAR) as Bellinger is troubling.

Without an impactful Cody Bellinger, the Cubs offense lacks power

The hope is that Bellinger returns from his injury at full strength and can light a fire under the offense the same way he did last summer. But that's far from a certainty. Since the end of May, Pete Crow-Armstrong has more home runs (2) than Bellinger (1). The power just hasn't been there and the thought of a lingering finger injury doesn't inspire confidence in a second-half rebound.

Chicago needs more from its highest-paid player - period. Tauchman's strong showing in 2024 has been a pleasant surprise, but you don't get to the postseason by relying on guys like this. His performance should be a cherry on top, rather than a driving factor. Otherwise, Jed Hoyer will be left facing a reckoning come October.