Seiya Suzuki just did something only 2 Cubs have accomplished since 1988

Everyone hoped that moving Seiya Suzuki to a full-time DH role would help him reach his full potential at the plate, and one-third of the way through the 2025 season, that's exactly what appears to have happened.

The Chicago Cubs' offense ranks at or near the top of the league in almost every metric, and Suzuki's emergence as a legitimate middle-of-the-order run producer is a big reason why. In Tuesday's extra-inning win over Colorado, he drove in his MLB-leading 50th run of the year, becoming the first Cub in two decades to drive in 50 in the team's first 51 games.

Suzuki joins the likes of Derrek Lee (2005) and Sammy Sosa (2000-01) as the only players to accomplish the feat since Andre Dawson in his 1987 National League MVP campaign, when he finished the year with a league-best 137 runs batted in.

The 30-year-old Japan native came to the Cubs as a highly-regarded hitter, one Jed Hoyer and the front office felt could develop into a force in the middle of the order. Until now, he's shown flashes of that potential, but was never able to sustain it, either due to cold stretches at the plate or injury. But this time around, he's really put it all together and the numbers speak for themselves.

In just 230 plate appearances, Suzuki already has 14 home runs - putting him just seven shy of his career-high (21), which came last year in 585 trips to the plate. He's slugging more than 80 points above his career average and his .898 OPS ranks eighth among qualified NL hitters.

Seiya Suzuki is on pace for an all-time great Cubs season

It helps that he's surrounded by two other league-leading bats in Kyle Tucker and Pete Crow-Armstrong, but that doesn't take away from what Suzuki has done on his own. If he can maintain this level of production, he'd be on pace for one of the best all-around seasons we've seen in decades: 42 home runs, 150 RBI and 99 runs scored - not to mention 45 doubles.

If he does that and PCA and Tucker keep rolling, it's hard to envision this team doing anything short of winning the division for the first time in a full season since 2017 - and, from there, anything is possible.