When the Chicago Cubs signed Seiya Suzuki, they believed his offensive profile made him an ideal middle of the order hitter who would only get better as the team ascended from rebuilding to competitive mode.
Suzuki has shown flashes of his greatest as a hitter since he debuted in 2022. Avoiding injuries and finding more consistency has been a hindrance at times for the Cubs’ 30-year-old designated hitter.
He has tapped into another offensive level through the first two months, however, for the division-leading Cubs. Suzuki has already slugged 14 home runs, a figure he didn’t reach until July 24 last season. He owns a 155 OPS+ entering Tuesday after posting a career-high 138 OPS+ in 2024.
“I don’t know if I can say it’s the best, but I feel like I’ve been doing really well,” Suzuki said Tuesday through interpreter Edwin Stanberry. “And obviously there’s going to be those moments where performance isn’t as good, and so you talk to the coaches, see what adjustments I need to make, but overall I’m very happy with my performance so far.”
Suzuki earned National League Player of the Week honors after hitting .480 with three homers, 10 RBIs, four doubles, four walks, nine runs scored, a 1.000 slugging percentage and a .552 on-base percentage in the last week. With Kyle Tucker’s nod in April, this marks the first season the Cubs have won multiple player of the week awards since collecting three honors in 2021 (Kris Bryant, Patrick Wisdom and Frank Schwindel).
“I wouldn’t say I changed anything, I think more so it shows the guys around me are getting on base, and RBIs are something that really happens because of everybody around you,” Suzuki said. “So all the support from all the other players getting on base, I really appreciate that, and I want to continue to do that as well.”
Fresh off the honor, Suzuki became the first player in the majors to reach 50 RBIs this season on his single in the third inning to give the Cubs a 1-0 lead against the Colorado Rockies. Pete Crow-Armstrong followed to tally his 49th RBI with a fielder’s choice grounder, providing rookie starter Cade Horton an early two-run lead. The Rockies tied it with runs in the fourth, a Ryan McMahon single, and seventh as Brenton Doyle led off the frame by taking Horton deep on the last pitch he threw in his outing.
Colorado took the lead in the top of the 11th, but the Cubs responded to avoid a tough loss to the nine-win Rockies. As the automatic runner at second, Crow-Armstrong stole third base to set up Michael Busch’s tying RBI single to left field. Two batters later, Matt Shaw continued his hot return to the Cubs by dumping a 1-2 slider to drive in the winning run for a 4-3 walk-off victory.
The Cubs (34-21) are at least 13 games over .500 in May for the first time since 2016, when they finished the month at 35-15. The depth of the Cubs’ lineup has shined through the first two months, though performances from key hitters like Suzuki have certainly played a factor.
“I’ve always talked about a guy that hits the ball that hard should hit more home runs, it feels like he didn’t hit quite as many home runs as we probably thought and the ball has been going out of the ballpark this year,” president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer said Tuesday. “He’s been a bit more aggressive, both in counts but also how he’s swinging. He’s looking to do damage, which I think is fantastic.
“His ability to hit and continue to develop hitting premium velocity has been really important.”
Suzuki tends to be at his best this year with runners on base. Part of that stems from the continued number of opportunities he gets hitting in the No. 3 spot behind Tucker and Ian Happ most of the season, but he has also delivered in those moments.
“He’s been right in the middle of everything, it’s important,” manager Craig Counsell said. “I mean, he’s hitting behind a really good hitter and sometimes that puts pressure, you could say it puts pressure on him, but other teams have to pitch to Kyle often, and that’s a good thing for us. So he’s doing everything required of that, and he’s carrying a big weight, he’s carrying a big load for us, for sure.”
When Suzuki does damage, it often comes against fastballs. He’s been among the best in the league against that pitch type. His .667 slugging percentage off fastballs this year ranks 10th-best in the big leagues. (Teammate Carson Kelly is third at .741, minimum 500 pitches.) And Suzuki’s contact, regardless of what kind of pitch he hits, is often hard. His 93 mph average exit velocity puts him 19th in MLB, while his barrel per batted ball event is 17th.
“The training that I’ve been putting in, with me getting older, a lot of injury prevention, all that work is showing up as data as well, all the numbers are going up,” Suzuki said. “I’ve been checking all the numbers and how they’ve been affected with that, and it’s on a good trend, so it makes me happy.”
