Cubs To Activate Seiya Suzuki, Designate Dylan Carlson For Assignment
Cubs outfielder Seiya Suzuki is back from the injured list after missing the first two weeks of the season with a knee sprain, according to multiple reports. Dylan Carlson was designated for assignment to clear space for Suzuki’s return. Chicago is also placing Phil Maton on the IL with a knee injury. Ethan Roberts is expected to be recalled to take his spot.
Suzuki banged up his knee while playing with Samurai Japan in the World Baseball Classic. He opened the regular season on the IL, but it wasn’t expected to be an extended absence. Suzuki ultimately needed just five rehab games at Double-A to get up to speed. He hit .429 with a pair of doubles with Knoxville.
Manager Craig Counsell told reporters, including Bruce Levine of 670 The Score, that Suzuki will not play every day once he rejoins the team. The veteran figures to be a fixture in the lineup once he’s reacclimated to the big-league schedule.
Matt Shaw has handled the majority of right field reps in Suzuki’s stead. It’s his first time playing the outfield as a professional. Shaw has held his own with the glove so far, recording 1 Defensive Run Saved over 81 innings. He’s posted a 108 wRC+ with two home runs in 39 plate appearances. Shaw will likely shift to more of a utility role with Suzuki back.
The Cubs added Carlson on a minor league deal in late January. He slashed .298/.421/.404 in 20 MLB Spring Training games to land a big-league roster spot. The former Cardinal appeared in just three games with Chicago. He went hitless in four at-bats.
Carlson has bounced around since his time in St. Louis came to an end. The Cardinals sent him to the Rays at the 2024 trade deadline for right-hander Shawn Armstrong. He landed with the Orioles last season, earning part-time work. Carlson struggled to a 74 wRC+ with Baltimore. The former top prospect has a .683 OPS in his MLB career.
Maton was the top acquisition in a bullpen overhaul that also included the additions of Hunter Harvey, Caleb Thielbar, Hoby Milner, and Jacob Webb. He signed a two-year, $14.5MM deal with the club. Maton opened his Chicago tenure with two scoreless outings, but struggled in recent appearances. The right-hander gave up two earned runs in each of his last three games.
Maton’s final outing before hitting the IL was a low-leverage spot against the Rays. He entered in the eighth inning of a game the Cubs were leading 7-0. Three hits and an HBP plated a pair of runs, requiring Counsell to go to Thielbar to secure the final out of the frame.
Roberts came up over the weekend as the 27th man for the doubleheader against the Guardians. He appeared in the second game, allowing an inherited runner to score before recording the last two outs of the eighth inning. The righty has now pitched in parts of four seasons with Chicago. Roberts has a 4.91 ERA across 44 innings as a big leaguer.
Patrick Mooney of The Athletic was first to report Suzuki’s activation and Carlson’s designation. Levine was first on Maton’s IL placement. Jesse Rogers of ESPN first reported Roberts’ recall.
Photo courtesy of Matt Marton, Imagn Images
Poll: What Should The Cubs Do With Ian Happ, Seiya Suzuki?
The Cubs kicked off the 2026 season with a pair of notable extensions. They locked up star center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong and veteran second baseman Nico Hoerner on contracts that will keep both players in town through the end of the 2032 season. Even after extending Hoerner (who was a pending free agent prior to signing), however, the Cubs are in position to lose a lot of talent this offseason. Sixty percent of the club’s starting rotation (Shota Imanaga, Matthew Boyd, and Jameson Taillon) is slated to hit free agency after the season. This is also catcher Carson Kelly‘s final year under contract.
The most notable players the team stands to lose to free agency, however, are Crow-Armstrong’s partners in the outfield: left fielder Ian Happ and right fielder Seiya Suzuki. Whether a deal will come together with either Happ or Suzuki remains to be seen. As of two months ago, both Happ and Suzuki indicated that they had not spoken to the Cubs about extensions yet. That can change with one phone call, of course, but there’s been no evidence to this point that the sides have engaged in talks so far. On the surface, the argument for extending one or both of the team’s corner outfielders seems fairly obvious: both have been consistently productive for Chicago.
Happ is now in his tenth season as a major league player, and he’s never posted a below average season by measure of wRC+ in that time. Since the departure of the core that won the World Series in 2016, Happ has been the club’s longest-tenured player and a consistent presence on offense. From 2022 onwards, he’s slashed .250/.346/.435 (119 wRC+) overall with remarkable year-to-year consistency. His wRC+ has fallen between 116 and 122 in each of the last four years, and on defense each of those seasons has ended with him being awarded the NL’s Gold Glove for his work in left field. Aside from his on-field value, Happ also holds a meaningful place in Cubs history with a chance to finish the year in the franchise’s top 10 all time for home runs.
Suzuki, on the other hand, joined the Cubs after coming over from Japan ahead of the 2022 season and has only improved across his four years with the club. A career .269/.346/.472 (127 wRC+) hitter in the majors, he’s been arguably the Cubs’ most productive bat during his time with the club. Since arriving in the majors in 2022, Suzuki’s the 11th-best outfielder in the majors by wRC+ (minimum 1500 plate appearances). That puts him just behind Byron Buxton and Julio Rodriguez, sitting just ahead of Fernando Tatis Jr. and Corbin Carroll. Those are middle-of-the-order superstars that Suzuki is rubbing elbows with from a statistical perspective, and that sort of impact can be tough to replace.
That’s not to say extending either player is necessarily a slam-dunk decision, as both certainly come with flaws. Both will celebrate their 32nd birthdays in August, putting them near the end of their prime years. Neither is exactly a complete player, either. Suzuki’s offensive impact cannot be denied, but his defensive struggles in the outfield are well-documented and led to him spending most of the 2025 campaign as the club’s DH. He’s also struggled to stay healthy in the majors, having only played 150 games once in his career. He already started 2026 on the injured list due to a knee injury he suffered during the World Baseball Classic.
Happ, on the other hand, is a more well-rounded player but the offensive production he offers is a lot easier to come by. Taylor Ward, Teoscar Hernandez, Brendan Donovan, Jarren Duran, Anthony Santander, Randy Arozarena, and Brandon Nimmo are all within three points of Happ’s wRC+ from 2022-25 in one direction or the other. All of those players are quality pieces, but that group is undeniably a step down from the rarefied air Suzuki’s numbers put him in.
One key factor that has not yet been mentioned regarding the Cubs’ decisions on Suzuki and Happ is the availability of quality alternatives. Arozarena is set to reach free agency this year and is comparable to Happ and Suzuki in terms of both age and productivity, but they’re undoubtedly the top three corner outfielders on the market this winter. Players like Trent Grisham and Ramon Laureano lack the lengthy track records offered by Happ and Suzuki, while someone like George Springer comes with even more substantial age-related concerns given that he’ll turn 37 this September. If the Cubs are going to dip into free agency for outfield help this winter, they’ll be hard pressed to find an upgrade over the guys they already have.
In terms of internal options to replace the duo, the Cubs are quite thin. Top outfield prospect Owen Caissie was dealt to Miami over the offseason to land Edward Cabrera. Kevin Alcantara is a well-regarded prospect currently hitting very well at Triple-A, but the 23-year-old has struggled in limited chances in the majors and draws significant value from his defense in center field, a position he won’t play on a team that features Crow-Armstrong. 2025 first-rounder Ethan Conrad is very well-regarded in prospecting circles but still years away from the majors. Matt Shaw was displaced from third base by the addition of Alex Bregman and has gotten some reps in right field while Suzuki is on the shelf, but he was a below-average offensive player last year and had no experience in the outfield before this spring.
How do MLBTR readers think the Cubs should handle the outfield corners going forward? Should they extend one or both of their current veterans, or let them both walk in free agency? Have your say in the poll below:
How should the Cubs approach Seiya Suzuki and Ian Happ's futures?
Cubs Aiming To Activate Seiya Suzuki On April 10
Seiya Suzuki is three games into a minor league rehab stint with Double-A Knoxville, and his return to the Cubs’ lineup is now on the horizon. As manager Craig Counsell told MLB.com’s Jordan Bastian and other reporters today, the plan is for Suzuki to be activated from the 10-day injured list before Friday’s game with the Pirates.
Suzuki will play for Knoxville on Tuesday and Wednesday in order to get a few more reps in before the Cubs make their final decision. The first three rehab games saw Suzuki start twice in right field and once as a DH, and Counsell said the team wants Suzuki ready to contribute both offensively and defensively.
“We’re probably dealing with at-bats as much as anything here,” Counsell said. “He didn’t get a full spring. Multiple weeks off. It’s just making sure he’s ready to go offensively….We want him to play right field, so we’ll activate him when he’s ready to play right field.”
The World Baseball Classic limited Suzuki’s Spring Training work to just two Cactus League games, and a PCL sprain then ended Suzuki’s preseason work altogether. Suzuki suffered the injury while trying to steal second during Japan’s WBC quarter-final game with Venezuela on March 14. The sprain was apparently minor enough that the Cubs gave some consideration to keeping Suzuki off the IL entirely, though Chicago decided to be cautious and give Suzuki more time to ramp up.
2026 is a big year for Suzuki, as it is the final season of the five-year, $85MM free agent contract he signed with Chicago prior to the 2022 season. The deal has proven to be a solid investment, as Suzuki has hit .269/.346/.472 with 87 home runs over his four Major League seasons, translating to a 127 wRC+ and 11.1 fWAR. Suzuki turns 32 in August and his corner outfield glovework has been average at best, so he’ll need more big numbers at the plate in order to land another lucrative contract in free agency (with the Cubs or another team) next winter.
Matt Shaw‘s playing time will be most impacted by Suzuki’s return, as the former top prospect has been seeing a lot of time in right field in Suzuki’s absence. Shaw will continue to be used in a bit of a super-sub capacity around the diamond, and will still get some time on the grass when Suzuki is used as a DH. Moises Ballesteros has been Chicago’s primary DH so far but he has gotten off to a slow start, so the Cubs might option Ballesteros to Triple-A once Suzuki is back on the active roster.
If the Cubs prefer to keep Ballesteros getting looks against MLB pitching, any of Michael Conforto, Dylan Carlson, or Scott Kingery could be designated for assignment as the odd man out for Suzuki. The veteran trio all made the team after signing minor league contracts this past winter, and Conforto has only one hit in 10 plate appearances while Kingery and Carlson have each appeared in just one game apiece. The set nature of the Cubs’ everyday lineup makes it difficult for backups to get much regular playing time, and things will be even more crowded with Suzuki back in action.
Cubs To Place Seiya Suzuki On Injured List, Option Javier Assad
The Cubs are placing outfielder Seiya Suzuki on the 10-day injured list to begin the season, manager Craig Counsell confirmed to reporters Monday (link via Patrick Mooney of The Athletic). He’s been slowed by a sprained posterior cruciate ligament in his right knee. The Cubs were already planning to select the contract of non-roster Michael Conforto with Suzuki ailing, but it wasn’t yet clear whether he’d require a stint on the IL or just be unavailable for the first series of the season or so.
On the pitching side of the roster, the Cubs optioned righty Javier Assad to Triple-A Iowa, where he’ll continue to work as a starter. He’d been in consideration for a bullpen role but will stay stretched out in Des Moines. Right-hander Ben Brown has nabbed the final bullpen spot behind Daniel Palencia, Phil Maton, Hunter Harvey, Hoby Milner, Jacob Webb, Caleb Thielbar and Colin Rea.
Suzuki, 31, played in a career-high 151 games last season and slashed .245/.326/.478 with a career-high 32 home runs in 651 plate appearances. It was the former NPB star’s fourth above-average season at the plate in four years since coming over from Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball. He’s entering the final season of a five-year, $85MM contract and will once again be a free agent following the 2026 season.
With Suzuki shelved, the Cubs will turn to Conforto and perhaps a combination of non-roster invitee Dylan Carlson and/or former top prospect Kevin Alcantara. Both are still in camp and are candidates for a bench mix that has yet to be finalized by the team. Conforto and Carlson signed minor league deals hoping to rebound from career-worst performances with the Dodgers and Orioles, respectively, in 2025. Alcantara has long ranked among the top prospects in Chicago’s system, but his stock has slipped in recent years as he’s shown a huge penchant for strikeouts in Triple-A.
Assad, 27, missed more than half the 2025 season with a severe oblique strain. He pitched only 37 MLB frames and worked to a 3.65 ERA with a poor 15% strikeout rate but quality walk and ground-ball rates of 7.8% and 47.8%. Since making his MLB debut back in 2022, Assad has bounced between the rotation and the bullpen, combining for a 3.43 ERA. He’s typically posted strikeout and walk rates a bit worse than league average. Assad is being paid a guaranteed $1.8MM this season and is controllable for two more years via arbitration. This is the second of the Cubs’ three minor league option years on Assad.
Brown, 26, was hit hard in 106 1/3 innings last year, yielding a 5.92 ERA. Brown showed slightly better results as a reliever (4.99 ERA) than as a starter (6.30 ERA), but his rate stats out of the bullpen were vastly superior. Most notably, he fanned 23.8% of opponents as a starter but 30.5% as a reliever. He also allowed far fewer home runs working out of the bullpen. Brown has one minor league option remaining and is controllable for five more seasons.
Cubs To Add Michael Conforto To Opening Day Roster
Veteran outfielder Michael Conforto has been informed he will be on the Cubs’ Opening Day roster, according to Patrick Mooney of the Athletic. In related news, outfielder Seiya Suzuki will not be ready for Opening Day, according to manager Craig Counsell (link via Mooney). The club has not decided if Suzuki will start the year on the injured list, though it is increasingly likely, per Mooney.
Conforto, 33, had been in camp on a minor-league deal with a big-league Spring Training invite. On the heels of a rough 2025 season with the Dodgers, both offensively and defensively, he seemed like a long shot to make the big-league roster in Chicago. Center field was never an option. The North Siders have one of the game’s best defensive center fielders in Pete Crow-Armstrong, and Conforto has not played up the middle since 2019. That left the two corner outfield spots, DH, and the bench as potential landing spots, though he seemed blocked by the presence of Suzuki, Ian Happ, Moises Ballesteros, and Tyler Austin.
With the recent injury to Austin and today’s update on Suzuki, Conforto may get some outfield reps in the early going. Austin was brought in on a one-year, $1.25MM deal this offseason to shore up the bench, though he’ll now miss several months following knee surgery at the end of February. That leaves Matt Shaw, who was forced out of a starting spot by the Alex Bregman signing, as the main infield backup on the roster. In the outfield, Conforto and Dylan Carlson are projected as the backups according to RosterResource. With Suzuki currently injured, the team may use Conforto and Carlson in a right field platoon in the short term.
Conforto enters 2026 with 11 years of big-league experience. His peak came with the Mets from 2017-20. In that time, he batted .265/.369/.495 and graded out 33% better than average by wRC+. His 24.4% strikeout rate was less than ideal, but he compensated through a combination of power and on-base ability. Conforto hit 97 home runs in that four-year span and only once posted an isolated slugging percentage below .200 (.193 in the pandemic season). Meanwhile, he got on base regularly thanks in part to an excellent 12.7% walk rate.
His performance fell off from 2021 onward. He was roughly average (104 wRC+) in his final year with the Mets. He underwent shoulder surgery in April 2022 while still a free agent, knocking him out for that campaign. In 391 games from 2023-25 with the Giants and Dodgers, Conforto was average overall, but inconsistent from year to year. In 2023, his strikeout, walk, and power numbers were only slightly down from 2021, resulting in a 99 wRC+. The following year saw him bounce back to 12% above average. The Dodgers bought into that rebound with a one-year, $17MM deal for Conforto in December 2024. Unfortunately, despite a roughly average hard-hit rate, Conforto’s power and contact were diminished, and he finished the year with a career-worst 83 wRC+.
Though he has a 121 career wRC+ against right-handed pitchers, the lefty-swinging Conforto has actually shown reverse platoon splits from 2024-25. In that time, he has been 11% worse than average against righties, compared to 35% better than average against southpaws. That could make for an interesting platoon with the switch-hitting Carlson. The latter has been a poor hitter overall since the start of 2023, although he performed significantly better against righties (85 wRC+) than lefties (49 wRC+) in 2025. Starting Conforto against lefties and Carlson against righties wouldn’t be a perfect fit, but it could be the temporary arrangement until Suzuki is ready to return.
Conforto’s deal came with a $2MM base salary if he made the big-league roster. RosterResource has the Cubs’ 2026 payroll at $231MM, with a projected luxury tax payroll of $243.999MM. That is just barely below the first threshold of luxury tax penalization. Since the club dipped below the threshold in 2025, they would be treated as first-time payors in 2026. As such, the addition of Conforto’s salary will cost the team an additional $400k, barring any changes to payroll over the course of the season.
Photo courtesy of Rick Scuteri, Imagn Images
Seiya Suzuki Diagnosed With PCL Sprain
March 17th: Manager Craig Counsell provided reporters, including Meghan Montemurro of the Chicago Tribune, with an update on Suzuki today. The outfielder has been diagnosed with a minor sprain of the posterior cruciate ligament in his right knee. They will see how he progresses in the next few days before deciding whether or not he will require a season-opening stint on the injured list. (Members of the Cubs beat all initially used the word “strain” but Jordan Bastian of MLB.com later issued a correction and said that it’s actually a sprain.)
March 15th: During yesterday’s quarterfinal game between Samurai Japan and Team Venezuela in the World Baseball Classic, Cubs outfielder Seiya Suzuki limped off the field during the first inning after getting caught stealing second base (as noted by Yakyu Cosmopolitan on social media). Last night, Kevin Barral of Fish On First reported that Suzuki was removed due to discomfort in his right knee and that the team would continue to evaluate him. After the game, superstar Shohei Ohtani spoke to reporters (including Bob Nightengale of USA Today) and noted that Suzuki hadn’t yet undergone imaging to determine the severity of the issue, though he will presumably do so in relatively short order.
If the injury proves to be a serious one, that would be a major blow to both Suzuki and the Cubs. The 31-year-old has been on a torrid stretch all spring, going 2-for-4 with a home run and a strikeout during his brief stay in camp with Chicago before joining Samurai Japan and going 3-for-9 with a strikeout, two homers, and six walks during his four games playing in the WBC. That left him in strong position to carry his hot streak into the regular season, but now he runs the risk of being sidelined when the season begins with Opening Day less than two weeks away. 2025 was a strong season for Suzuki, as he spent most of the season playing DH for the Cubs in deference to Kyle Tucker in right field. He managed to put together a banner year from the DH slot, appearing in 151 games and slashing .245/.326/.478 (123 wRC+) with 32 homers.
2026 is an especially important year for Suzuki as his contract with the Cubs is set to expire, allowing him to reach free agency this coming November. In a free agent class with a relative dearth of high-end offensive talent, another strong year from Suzuki could make him one of the most coveted players available next offseason. He’s a career 127 wRC+ hitter in the majors across four MLB seasons, and over the past two years he’s slashed .263/.345/.480 (129 wRC+) with 53 homers and 21 steals across 283 games. Just 17 players have posted at least 50 home runs and 20 stolen bases over the past two years, and among them only George Springer, Gunnar Henderson, Bobby Witt Jr., Jose Ramirez, Juan Soto, Ohtani, and Aaron Judge have a higher on-base percentage.
There’s an argument to be made, then, that Suzuki has been among the most complete hitters in baseball in recent years. Another strong season for Suzuki where he posts similar offensive numbers to the past two seasons would cement his status as one of the top bats available in free agency, particularly given that he’s expected to return to right field on a regular basis this year with Moises Ballesteros getting a crack at regular DH time. Missing the start of the season would put a damper on all that, especially given that Suzuki averaged just 127 games a year over his first three seasons in the majors due to various trips to the injured list.
As for the Cubs, the team would certainly miss one of its top hitters if he does wind up starting the season on the injured list. The good news for Chicago, however, is that they’re relatively well-stocked in terms of depth at this point. Matt Shaw has begun getting reps in the outfield this spring after being bumped out of the regular third base job by the addition of Alex Bregman, while Michael Conforto is in camp with the Cubs on a minor league deal. Conforto already seemed to be in strong position to make the team’s roster as a bench bat, and if Suzuki were to start the season on the IL he’d surely join Shaw as one of the favorites for regular reps in right field to open the year. Chicago could also view an injury to Suzuki as an opportunity to get top outfield prospect Kevin Alcantara a look at the big league level as he heads into his final option year while facing a fairly crowded outfield mix.
Happ, Suzuki: No Recent Extension Talks With Cubs
It’s common for baseball teams to spend the winter focusing on new acquisitions and then pivot to extensions during spring training. Nothing seems urgent with a couple of Cubs, as outfielders Ian Happ and Seiya Suzuki both tell Maddie Lee of the Chicago Sun-Times that they have not yet heard from the club on the extension front.
It’s possible that a big pivot is coming up in the club’s position player mix. Kyle Tucker just departed via free agency. After the 2026 season, the Cubs are slated to see Happ, Suzuki and second baseman Nico Hoerner hit the open market. Carson Kelly‘s deal has a 2027 mutual option but those provisions are almost never picked up by both sides, so he should be considered an impending free agent as well.
That gives the Cubs a good amount of future spending capacity. Dansby Swanson and Alex Bregman are the only players guaranteed more than $6MM next year. RosterResource projects them for just $76.25MM in spending next year. That number will come up with arbitration-eligible and pre-arb players but there’s a big gap between that figure and the $231MM they’re spending on the 2026 squad.
The flipside is that there are holes. The outfield has a lot of long-term uncertainty with Happ and Suzuki slated to depart. Pete Crow-Armstrong should be a fixture in center field since he remains under club control through 2030 but the corners would need to be addressed.
That could happen internally, in theory. Matt Shaw could get some outfield work this year and could be a potential factor. His most logical long-term fit would be second base, with Hoerner’s potential departure, though a Hoerner extension is another thing the Cubs could consider. Owen Caissie once looked like a long-term outfield solution but he was dealt to the Marlins in the Edward Cabrera trade. Kevin Alcántara is still in the mix but has struck out in almost 30% of his Triple-A plate appearances thus far, lowering his stock a bit. Justin Dean is on the roster but profiles more as a speed-and-defense depth outfielder. James Triantos and Pedro Ramírez are on the 40-man and have some minor league outfield experience but have mostly played the infield and neither has cracked the majors yet.
If the Cubs don’t believe in that internal group, there would be sense in pursuing extension talks with Happ or Suzuki. They already got one extension done with Happ. Back in 2023, Happ and the Cubs agreed to a three-year deal worth $61MM. That was a bit of a surprising deal at the time, with Happ just a few months from hitting free agency as a 29-year-old. Instead, he locked in some guaranteed money and is now slated to hit the open market shortly after his 32nd birthday in August.
The switch-hitter has been remarkably consistent at the plate. He has appeared in nine big league seasons now. In the seven campaigns where he played at least 60 games, his wRC+ finished between 105 and 122. He’s generally good for 15 to 25 home runs with solid on-base marks thanks to strong walk rates. The defensive grades have been mixed but he can steal a few bags and FanGraphs has considered him to basically be worth three-to-four wins above replacement in recent years.
Suzuki has been more of a bat-first player. He has a .269/.346/.472 line and 127 wRC+ over his four seasons with the Cubs. Defensive metrics have considered him to be subpar in the field and he saw a lot of time as the designated hitter last year. Tucker’s departure seemingly opens the door for him to be a more regular outfielder, with Moisés Ballesteros perhaps taking up a decent chunk of the DH at-bats.
External solutions could also be considered, as always. Next year’s free agent class doesn’t have a superstar outfielder. Happ and Suzuki should be two of the top options, alongside guys like Randy Arozarena, Daulton Varsho, Trent Grisham and others. The Cubs could perhaps wait and issue qualifying offers to Happ and/or Suzuki and try to lure them back that way, a situation which recently played out with left-hander Shota Imanaga. There could also be trade opportunities that develop in the next year or so.
The fact that no talks have taken place doesn’t mean they won’t in the future, so it will be interesting to see if the Cubs pick up the phone in the coming weeks or if they’d prefer to play the waiting game. As mentioned, the club has long-term spending capacity, meaning they could get something done now if they wanted to. The two players are in the same boat age-wise, as they were born within a week of each other in 1994, Happ on August 12th and Suzuki on August 18th.
Photo courtesy of Charles LeClaire, Imagn Images
Seiya Suzuki Exits Due To Right Wrist Issue
Cubs slugger Seiya Suzuki exited tonight’s game against the Dodgers this evening due to right wrist pain, per a team announcement. Suzuki was serving as the club’s DH in tonight’s game but was pinch hit for by Miguel Amaya in the fifth inning. As noted by Marquee Sports Network’s Taylor McGregor during the club’s broadcast of the game, Suzuki first dealt with soreness in his wrist during the club’s series against the Athletics in Sacramento last week while playing the outfield. Suzuki has played exclusively DH in the eight games since that series.
It’s unclear at this point whether Suzuki’s injury is a day-to-day situation or will require a trip to the injured list, but either outcome would leave Chicago without one of its best hitters. The Cubs offense has gotten off to a hot start this year, helping to lead the club to a solid 10-7 record to open the season with an MLB-best 113 runs scored. That’s nearly seven runs per game, and a huge part of that production has been the duo of offseason acquisition Kyle Tucker (206 wRC+ entering play this evening) and Suzuki (170 wRC+).
While that otherworldly start to the season from Suzuki is certainly impressive, he was already the club’s best hitter for the past three years prior to the Tucker trade this winter. Since coming over from Japan prior to the 2022 season, Suzuki is hitting .279/.356/.473 with a 131 wRC+ that’s tied with Pete Alonso and Joc Pederson for 22nd among qualified MLB hitters over that time. He was even more impressive last year, when he slashed .283/.366/.482 with a wRC+ of 138 in 132 games for the Cubs. Impressive as Suzuki’s numbers have been, staying healthy has been a challenge for him over the years. After playing 111 games in his rookie season due to finger sprain that sidelined him for over a month, Suzuki has missed time due to oblique strains in each of the past two seasons as well.
It remains to be seen if this latest ailment will require a trip to the injured list, but in the event that it does the Cubs are fortunately fairly well-suited to handle an absence from even one of their top hitters. Justin Turner signed with Chicago over the offseason to serve as a veteran presence off the bench and spell Michael Busch at first base and, while he’s hitting just .250/.346/.250 to this point in the season, that production has come in a sample size of just 26 plate appearances during which Turner has posted identical 11.5% strikeout and walk rates. Given his track record of above-average offense that spans more than a decade, Turner should be able to step into the lineup and serve as an effective fill-in option even if he can’t be expected to replace the elite production Suzuki has offered to this point in the year.
If the Cubs decide to bolster the lineup with one of their prospects at Triple-A instead of leaning on Turner, the options are somewhat less inspiring. Kevin Alcantara and James Triantos have both yet to get going even with the club’s Iowa affiliate, and calling either player up to help the club in the majors when they’re already struggling against minor league pitching could be a tall order. Owen Caissie is hitting a more robust .267/.365/.538 in seven games for Iowa this year after posting a 121 wRC+ at the level last season, but his penchant for strikeouts over the years makes his 40% strikeout rate to open the season all the more worrisome.
Seiya Suzuki To Be Cubs’ Primary DH In 2025
At the yesterday’s Cubs Convention in Chicago, manager Craig Counsell spoke to the crowd (video link) about the club’s outfield mix and clarified the Cubs’ outfield plans for the year. As Counsell lays things out, Ian Happ and Pete Crow-Armstrong will remain entrenched as the club’s regulars in left field and center field respectively, while offseason acquisition Kyle Tucker will take over as the regular right fielder.
That’s generally agreed to be the Cubs’ best defensive alignment as things stand and has seemed to be the most likely outcome ever since the Cubs acquired Tucker last month. With that being said, one side effect of making Tucker the club’s regular right fielder is that incumbent right fielder Seiya Suzuki will be pushed to DH on a regular basis this year. That’s a reality Counsell acknowledged, noting that Suzuki will DH “a lot” this season.
“We talked to Seiya this week about that, and he understands that, and he’s on board with that,” Counsell said, and he went on to note that they view Suzuki as an “extra outfielder” who can fill in for Happ and Tucker in the event of an injury.
Even so, it’s notable that the Cubs appear committed to Suzuki as a primary DH in 2025. Suzuki’s agent, Joel Wolfe of Wasserman, spoke to reporters during the Winter Meetings last month about Suzuki and made clear that his client wanted to play the field. Wolfe even suggested that Suzuki likely “would not have signed with a team” who pitched being their everyday DH to him in free agency. Those comments helped to stoke trade rumors surrounding Suzuki throughout December, and while they started to die down after the club traded Cody Bellinger to the Yankees his name has continued to come up on occasion in the rumor mill.
Counsell’s comments yesterday seemingly put that conversation to bed, indicating that the club and Suzuki have resolved whatever discord may have existed between the sides over the issue. Given that Tucker is Gold Glove award winner who trails only Mookie Betts and Aaron Judge in Defensive Runs Saved as a right fielder since he made his MLB debut in 2018, perhaps Suzuki is more willing to move off of his natural position in deference to him than he was for Bellinger, who was an average defender in right field (+0 Fielding Run Value, +1 DRS) last year.
Even with Suzuki, Tucker, Crow-Armstrong, and Happ set to be regulars for the club in 2025, there appears to be a need for at least one more outfield-capable player on the roster. While Suzuki can seamlessly shift to a corner in the event that Happ or Tucker either needs a day off or heads to the injured list, there’s no clear backup to Crow-Armstrong on the club’s roster after the Cubs non-tendered Mike Tauchman back in November. Happ has the most center field experience of the club’s other regulars, but he hasn’t played a single inning there in the past two years and was last a regular fixture at the position back in 2020.
Alexander Canario and Kevin Alcántara are both on the club’s 40-man roster and capable of playing center field, although Canario has almost exclusively been used in the corners to this point in his big league career and the Cubs may prefer to avoid using a top prospect like Alcántara in a bench role. Should the club look for an external option capable of playing center field amid their reported search for additional bench depth, Michael A. Taylor and Kevin Pillar are among the bench center fielders still available in free agency.
Dodgers Exploring Alternatives To Teoscar Hernandez
Negotiations between the Dodgers and outfielder Teoscar Hernandez remain at an impasse, according to a report from Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic. While L.A. and Hernandez have long expressed mutual interest in a reunion following a successful 2024 campaign that ended in a World Series championship, previous reporting indicated a “gap” remained between the sides in negotiations. Evidently, that gap remains, as Rosenthal reports that Los Angeles brass are “exploring” right-handed alternatives to Hernandez they could add to their lineup instead. The three names Rosenthal lists as potential options for the Dodgers are free agent infielder Ha-Seong Kim, Cubs outfielder Seiya Suzuki, and White Sox center fielder Luis Robert Jr. Rosenthal emphasizes, however, that it’s not yet clear how serious the Dodgers are about those pursuits.
Of the three names floated, Suzuki is perhaps the best replacement for Hernandez from the Dodgers’ perspective. He hit .283/.366/.482 with 21 homers and 16 steals in 132 games for the Cubs last year. His high on-base percentage and lesser power make him a somewhat different flavor of hitter than Hernandez, but Suzuki’s 138 wRC+ actually has the edge over Hernandez’s own figure of 134. Both are generally regarded as below-average defenders in an outfield corner, but either one would provide the Dodgers with a big right-handed bat to add to their lineup and a regular for the outfield corner not occupied by Michael Conforto.
Good a fit as Suzuki would be, however, acquiring him may be easier said than done. Rosenthal reports that the Cubs are “not inclined” to trade Suzuki this winter. The club entered the offseason with something of a logjam in the outfield due to the presence of both Suzuki and Cody Bellinger, and that logjam only grew when the club added star right fielder Kyle Tucker in a trade with the Astros earlier this month. Since then, the Cubs dealt Bellinger to the Yankees. While that leaves them in a similar situation as the one they entered the winter in, with two right fielders on the roster and Suzuki likely relegated to regular DH duties, the club still seems to prefer keeping Suzuki rather than parting ways with the talented hitter.
Rosenthal suggests that the Cubs feel that Suzuki would be difficult to replace due to a thin market for impactful right-handed hitters. Aside from Suzuki, the middle of Chicago’s lineup is occupied by switch-hitter Ian Happ as well as lefty bats Tucker and Michael Busch, so Suzuki’s presence adds some much-needed right-handed thump to that mix. Suzuki also holds a no-trade clause, but his previously reported desire to avoid being a full-time DH could make the possibility of a trade that would make him L.A.’s regular right fielder a palatable option. Speculatively speaking, it’s possible that the Dodgers could include a talented right-handed bat such as Andy Pages in a package for Suzuki’s services in order to bridge that gap, though six seasons of team control over Pages would be a steep price to pay. Suzuki is under contract for two more seasons and will make $19MM in both 2025 and ’26 before hitting free agency.
Robert, meanwhile, certainly has the potential to match Hernandez’s offensive impact but has yet to demonstrate consistency in the majors. The 27-year-old endured the worst season of his career in 2024 as he hit just .224/.278/.379 (84 wRC+) while striking out at a 33.2% clip, but hit a much more palatable .287/.331/.511 (129 wRC+) over the prior three seasons and is just one season removed from a 4.9 fWAR 2023 campaign. Robert pairs that volatile but potentially impactful bat with impressive speed (he stole 23 bases in just 100 games this year) and quality defense in center field. He also comes with plenty of injury risk, as 2024 was just the second time in his career he played in even 100 games due to a number of trips to the injured list over the years.
Rosenthal suggests that if the Dodgers were to take a chance on the talented-but-inconsistent Robert, he’d slot into center field for Los Angeles. It’s unclear whether that would mean moving Mookie Betts back to right field and playing Tommy Edman at shortstop, or perhaps a move to second base for Edman that pushes Gavin Lux to the bench (or off the team via trade) and leaves right field open for some combination of Andy Pages and James Outman. Robert is guaranteed $17MM in the form of a $15MM salary and a $2MM buyout on a $20MM club option for 2026, but could be retained via club options through the end of the 2027 season if acquired. In terms of acquisition cost, it’s possible that Robert would be less pricey than Suzuki given that Rosenthal reports that the White Sox don’t expect to land multiple top prospects in exchange for Robert, though they would want a “meaningful piece” in return for the All-Star.
Kim is somewhat unique as a potential target for multiple reasons. As a free agent, he’d cost the Dodgers nothing but money as opposed to a trade for Suzuki or Robert that would require some sort of player or prospect return headed the other way. He’s also an infielder who derives much of his value from being a plus defender all across the infield dirt. That makes him a tricky positional fit for a Dodgers club that already figures to juggle Betts, Lux, and Miguel Rojas up the middle. While the club could simply move Betts back to right field, it’s possible they’d prefer to keep him on the dirt and play him alongside Kim with one at shortstop and the other at second base. That would leave Lux without a position, however, and also leave a hole in the outfield left to be internal options or another external addition.
Kim is also by far the weakest hitter of the three at the plate and an undeniable downgrade from Hernandez offensively. While Kim has improved leaps and bounds at the plate after a lackluster rookie season, he’s still more or less a league average hitter with a 101 wRC+ in 2024 and a .250/.336/.385 (106 wRC+) line overall since becoming a regular in 2022. It’s also worth noting that he seems ticketed for the injured list to start the season after undergoing shoulder surgery back in September, though Rosenthal reports that he’s targeting a return to the diamond “early” in the 2025 season. Even so, that would leave the Dodgers utilizing their internal options to fill out the lineup card until Kim is ready to return to action.