MLB insider identifies biggest concern surrounding first-place Cubs

After four straight seasons of missing the Major League Baseball postseason, the Chicago Cubs have bounced back in a big way in 2025. 

Boosted by the addition of three-time All-Star Kyle Tucker, their offense leads MLB in runs scored. Though Tucker has been h his usual dependable self, it has been the surprising breakout of Peter-Crow Armstrong that has transformed the lineup, as he leads the team with 17 home runs along with a 140 OPS+. Veterans Seiya Suzuki (16 home runs, 56 RBI) and Dansby Swanson (12 home runs) have also played major roles, while catcher Carson Kelly has been one of the offseason’s best pickups with a .857 OPS. 

On the pitching side, it has been unheralded journeymen like Matthew Boyd, Colin Rea, Drew Pomeranz and Brad Keller picking up the slack in the wake of injuries to Shota Imanaga and Justin Steele and underperformance from the likes of Ryan Pressly and Porter Hodge, resulting in the National League’s fourth-best pitching staff by ERA. The total sum of these parts is a 41-26 club that leads the National League Central by five games and is just 1.5 games back of the New York Mets for the National League’s best record. 

Though the Cubs look to be in the driver’s seat for a division title, there are still obvious concerns as they turn their sights to October. The most obvious need is another frontline starter to replace Steele, as the soft-tossing Boyd and Rea are not the kind of pitchers you want to depend on in October. Names such as Sandy Alcantara, Zac Gallen and possibly even Chris Sale are expected to be on the trade market, but The Athletic’s Johnny Flores Jr. questions whether general manager Jed Hoyer will be given the clearance to go all-in. 

“To this point, the club’s hitting (.774 OPS, 3rd) and pitching (3.67 ERA, 10th) have been among the league’s best, but Chicago could still use another frontline starter and perhaps an extra bat for the stretch run,” Flores wrote. “So will Hoyer, who is in a contract year, be given the chance to get the Cubs to where they need to be for a potential deep postseason run?

In recent years, the Cubs have rarely been among the most aggressive off-season bidders, opting for second-tier free agents like Suzuki, Imanaga, Swanson, and Taillon instead of the likes of Juan Soto and Shohei Ohtani. The Cubs have also held onto many of their top prospects, but the recent trade of former first-round pick Cam Smith in the Tucker trade could be a sign that their mentality has changed. Whether or not Hoyer has permission to sacrifice future assets for short-term gains could be the difference between an early postseason exit and a deep October run. 

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