Was Cubs Breakout Candidate On Opening Day Roster?

One site believes this young Chicago Cubs player is the player most likely to make the jump to stardom on its current roster.

Mar 28, 2024; Arlington, Texas, USA; Chicago Cubs right fielder Seiya Suzuki (27) in action during / Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports

The Chicago Cubs had a breakout player on the mound last year in Justin Steele, the left-hander that won 16 games and finished in the Top 5 of Cy Young voting a breakthrough season.

So, which Cub will have that sort of breakthrough in 2024? ESPN recently took a look at the players that could have that kind of a breakthrough in 2024.

The Cubs have a plethora of candidates, many of them who haven’t proven much at the Major League level, and that includes first baseman Michael Busch and outfielder Peter Crow-Armstrong.

But ESPN settled on a current Cubs outfielder, Seiya Suzuki, who has a FanGraphs projection of 2.4 WAR (wins above replacement).

Suzuki is in his third full Major League season after breaking in with the Cubs in 2022. As a rookie he batted .262 in 111 games with 14 home runs and 46 RBI.

Last season he took a step forward in 138 games as the everyday right fielder. His batting average jumped to .285, and he set career highs with 20 home runs and 74 RBI.

So what makes Suzuki the breakout candidate? Well, he’s shown progressive improvement, both in batting average and in his power. Even as FanGraphs projects his WAR at 2.4, his WAR last season was actually 3.2.

He’s going to get every day work in right field, barring injury. He’ll play alongside center fielder Cody Bellinger and left fielder Ian Happ.

That’s also where he batted in the order on Opening Day — between Happ, who led off, and Bellinger, who batted third. Suzuki went 1-for-5, but batting between the pair all season should force pitchers to go after him in an effort to avoid Bellinger, especially if Bellinger approaches what he did last season at the plate.

Add in Suzuki’s quality spring and it adds up to a player that could make another big jump in 2024.