Seiya Suzuki's monster start in the World Baseball Classic has Cubs fans flying high

For years, Chicago Cubs fans have wanted more from Seiya Suzuki. Even after a 32-homer, 103 RBI 2025 campaign, many hope there's yet-to-be-tapped potential in the 31-year-old's game - and his early showing for Samurai Japan is only fueling the flames.

Before many were even out of bed, Suzuki had two homers under his belt in Japan's 8-6 win over Korea Saturday - the second finished with an elite-level bat flip.

It's easy to see how much it means to Suzuki to get to represent his home country after missing the last World Baseball Classic with a spring oblique injury. The fans at the Tokyo Dome have been raucous - and the Cubs slugger has embraced the environment in the best way imaginable: delivering big hit after big hit as Japan looks to repeat as WBC champions.

It's even drawn the attention of his teammate and back-to-back-to-back MVP Shohei Ohtani.

“He's so great. His first jack and second jack, both of them were very nice,” Ohtani said. “His swing mechanics are great. Then he also took the walk in his fourth at-bat. He's great.”

Seiya Suzuki's big WBC, return to the outfield could be huge for the Cubs

Through two games, Suzuki is 3-for-7 (.429) with four runs scored and a pair of long balls, reaching base five times. He's picked up right where he left off last year with the Cubs, when he slugged north of .600 in the postseason. With Kyle Tucker no longer a factor in the Chicago outfield picture, we'll see a lot of Suzuki in right field this season - something he thinks could help him have his best year yet.

Last year, as the team's designated hitter, Suzuki slashed .232/.322/.423 in 444 plate appearances - numbers that paled in comparison to the robust .304/.360/.664 line he put up in 139 trips to the plate as a right fielder. If the early returns from the World Baseball Classic are any sign of things to come, we could be in store for Suzuki's biggest season yet.