Though I wouldn’t go so far as to say it is the predominant “identity” of the Chicago Cubs of recent vintage, I do think it’s important to note that the Cubs have typically sported one of the better defenses in baseball going back at least a decade. Defense was critical to the 2026 championship run, as a lot of the excellent pitching was really an excellent combination of pitching and defense.
The Cubs had one of the best defenses in baseball last year, rating highly across the board in any metric you life, passing the eye test routinely, winning three individual Gold Gloves, and winning the overall team Gold Glove (yes, that’s a thing if you didn’t remember). And if you look over the positional group heading into 2026, there’s little reason to believe they won’t once again make a strong showing on defense.
To that end, Mike Petriello analyzed the top defenses heading into the season with a little help from Statcast, and anointed the top five projected groups: the Blue Jays, the Cubs, the D-backs, the Red Sox, and the Guardians. Of the Cubs, he said:
“It’s much the same for the Cubs, who saw Pete Crow-Armstrong play something like the best defensive center field we’ve seen in forever, and still have Nico Hoerner and Dansby Swanson as a dynamic middle-infield duo. As with Toronto, their changes come out to net neutral; Alex Bregman is a better defender than Kyle Tucker, surely, but also that swap likely means more fielding time required from Seiya Suzuki. Good last year, good this year – at least assuming Hoerner remains in Chicago despite some trade rumors in the wake of the Bregman deal.”
All sounds right to me, with me adding that Ian Happ, while not overly flashy out there, is consistently very good in left field. And Seiya Suzuki, albeit with ups and downs, is almost as good in right field as what Kyle Tucker actually showed last year (reputations notwithstanding, Tucker did not look impressive and rated as slightly below average). The catching tandem of Carson Kelly and Miguel Amaya is also strong, and Michael Busch is outstanding at first base.
It’s just an incredible group across the board when you really go spot by spot, and it should provide greater comfort to folks who don’t love that the Cubs rely so much on contact-management in their rotation. They are built for it.
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