2 Cubs Players Who Are Finally Giving the Offense Some Hope

The Cubs are trending in a good direction of late, winning two in a row thanks to an offense that has started to show signs of life. Since May 1st, the Cubs have struggled to generate power at the plate, ranking 28th in slugging (.361) and 20th in home runs (38) during that span.

What's frustrating is the Cubs are creating scoring chances, but they've left more runners on base (552) than any team in baseball this season. They simply aren't coming through in those moments with a .363 slugging percentage in RISP situations.

What helps teams produce in "clutch" moments is really just having players who consistently drive the ball for extra-base hits. And, finally, the Cubs have two guys who are starting to heat up.

Pete Crow-Armstrong's 16-game on-base streak

Jun 6, 2026; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Chicago Cubs center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong (4) after he hits a home run during the ninth inning against the San Francisco Giants at Wrigley Field. Mandatory Credit: Matt Marton-Imagn Images | Matt Marton-Imagn Images

Since May 26th, Pete Crow-Armstrong has been on a tear, slashing .353/.413/.676 with 5 home runs, 9 RBI, and a total of 11 extra-base hits. The day before the Cubs snapped their 10-game losing streak, their dynamic centerfielder started a 16-game on-base streak. It's no surprise their offense has shown signs of life since.

On the season, Crow-Armstrong has a .781 OPS with a wRC+ of 121. However, he's been settling into the lead-off role in Craig Counsell's lineup, and the results speak for themselves through the last 15 games. The young start is slashing .323/.403/.629 with 4 home runs, good for a 185 wRC+ in 72 PAs when leading off for the Cubs. Small sample size, but the team's offense needed a jolt, and who better to do that than the electrifying PCA?

Overall, Crow-Armstrong is making more contact at the plate this year. Both his zone contact (83.8% to 85.5%) and overall contact (73.3% to 74.4%) numbers increased from 2025, though his swing percentage has gone way down, from 59.5% to 52.1%.

And as Brendan Miller from CHGO points out, Crow-Armstrong is also swinging the bat much harder! So, when he is connecting on pitches, he's typically doing more damage.

Pete Crow-Armstrong has significantly increased his bat speed. It ranks in the 80th %ile. In 2024, it was in the 25th.

Bat speed isn't everything, but it matches PCA saying he's stronger. His speed has held up all year, never entering the blue zone on a rolling 20-swing avg. pic.twitter.com/lMrfF2ihaw
— Brendan Miller (@brendan_cubs) June 12, 2026

Jed Hoyer and the Cubs brass talk a lot about "swing decisions," and it's numbers like these that show Crow-Armstrong is putting those habits to play this year. His 8.1% walk rate would be a career high for him and a nearly 4.0 percent jump from last year (4.5%), which certainly helps support the idea that PCA is getting a lot more comfortable at the plate.

For what it's worth, PCA was 1-4 on Friday with a double that didn't factor into the scoring. But another bat in the Cubs lineup did provide some run support, and he's also been turning the corner as of late!

Seiya Suzuki has got the power

Jun 12, 2026; San Francisco, California, USA; Chicago Cubs right fielder Seiya Suzuki (27) hits an RBI triple against the San Francisco Giants during the fourth inning at Oracle Park. Mandatory Credit: John Hefti-Imagn Images | John Hefti-Imagn Images

Suzuki was one of the plethora of bats struggling during the Cubs' long losing streak, having a 6-game hitless streak in the middle of it. But both his hitless streak and the Cubs' winless streak ended on May 27th. Since then, Suzuki has been on a heater.

The soon-to-be free agent has slashed .298/.333/.509 with 3 home runs and 10 RBI, including an incredible Grand Slam against Colorado in their win on Thursday. The bomb felt like a potentially huge hit for Suzuki and the team as they look to change the momentum of their season.

SEIYA SLAM. pic.twitter.com/2kmEAjaDEj
— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) June 11, 2026

Suzuki's gotten a hit in 13 of his last 15 games and currently has a 9-game hit streak going into Saturday night's battle in San Francisco. He provided one of the Cubs' four extra-base hits last night.

On the season, Suzuki has a .767 OPS with 10 home runs and a wRC+ of 115, but through the first month of the season, he had a .998 OPS with 181 wRC+. The Cubs are hoping that version of Suzuki is starting to return, as he has been striking balls with way more authority.

Seiya is waking up. pic.twitter.com/Ulich0jmBN
— Michael Cerami (@Michael_Cerami) June 13, 2026

All 6 of Suzuki's extra-base hits in his last 15 games were considered hard contact, all with exit velocities over 100 mph, which is a very good sign for the 31-year-old.

Now, both Suzuki and Crow-Armstrong are striking out over 25% of the time this season, which isn't great. But with their recent production at the plate and their high walk percentages, they're still producing at a high rate for this Cubs lineup. This is especially true when considering how the rest of the group has been doing as of late.

The Cubs need both Suzuki and Crow-Armstrong to find some consistency, because if they can lean on those two bats to drive in runs, suddenly a Michael Busch's 3-run home run like we saw last night feels like insurance runs and not do-or-die runs.

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