Historic Cubs Defense Could Be What Sets Them Apart in October

Cubs defenders can do something no modern MLB team has ever done.

Jul 7, 2026; Baltimore, Maryland, USA; Chicago Cubs infielder Dansby Swanson (7) and infielder Nico Hoerner (2) run back to the dugout after working together to complete a double play in the fifth inning against the Baltimore Orioles at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. Mandatory Credit: Jamie Sabau-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

The Chicago Cubs are on pace to do something no team has ever done before.

It doesn't have to do with hitting home runs or stealing bases. In fact, it doesn't have to do with offense at all.

It's the defense, and it's been the pillar of the Cubs' success in 2026. It's obvious how good it has been at this point in the season.

*pretends to be shocked that pca made another highlight reel catch* pic.twitter.com/RT6FDvctKU

— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) July 22, 2026

You can watch Pete Crow-Armstrong make an impossibly quick jump to track down a ball in center field or Dansby Swanson and Nico Hoerner turn double plays in their sleep on any given day. Seiya Suzuki can gun a runner down from right field with ease. Ian Happ has four Gold Glove Awards in left.

There's one particular metric that suggests this Cubs defense may statistically be the best modern defense MLB has seen. It's Fielding Run Value, and the Cubs as a team lead MLB in it by quite a large margin:

The Cubs lead MLB in FRV by a large margin (statistics as of Aug. 10) | Baseball Savant/Statcast

Fielding Run Value, or FRV, is a Statcast metric that converts all of its individual defensive metrics to a single, run-based scale. Per the Baseball Savant website, Statcast uses these six metrics and calculations:

• Outs Above Average (range): 1 out = .9 run (OF) // 1 out = .75 run (IF)
• Fielder Throwing Runs: 1 run = 1 run
• Catcher Blocking: 1 block saved= .25 run (available 2018 – present).
• Catcher Framing: 1 strike saved = .125 run
• Catcher Throwing: 1 SB prevented = .65 run
• Double Plays: 1 DP added = .4 run

Since the stat was introduced for the 2018 season, no team has been able to eclipse the Arizona Diamondbacks' single-season FRV of 64 that year.

Best single-season team FRV in the Statcast era was the D-backs' 65 in 2018. Could see the Cubs eclipsing that with ease https://t.co/HfJELaP9OV

— Zoe Grossman (@zoe__grossman) July 31, 2026

With 43 games remaining in the 2026 regular season entering play on Tuesday, the Cubs' FRV is sitting at 61. The next-closest challenger is the Toronto Blue Jays, who sit a humble 32 runs behind.

The Cubs are just three runs from tying the record and four from breaking it. Barring any catastrophic collapse, it's pretty safe to say the Cubs will come out of this season the best defensive team in the Statcast era. And that's the kind of thing that can win a team silverware.

The Cubs' FRV was second to the Blue Jays in the 2025 season. Toronto's defensive excellence helped propel them to an AL Pennant in October. In 2023, the World Series Champion Texas Rangers finished the season in second on the FRV leaderboard.

Chicago has individual brilliance at all positions — take Crow-Armstrong as an example, who leads all MLB position players in FRV with 24. He's on pace to break the single-season record of 28, set by both Arizona shortstop Nick Ahmed in 2018 and then-San Francisco Giants catcher Patrick Bailey in 2024.

Swanson is No. 4 among shortstops with 10. Alex Bregman leads all third basemen with 5, and Hoerner is No. 7 among second basemen with 6.

Day in and day out, this Cubs team makes game-changing plays on the defensive side of the ball. It's not just FRV that they excel at, either. Crow-Armstrong also leads MLB in Outs Above Average (OAA) with 22. Swanson is sixth with 14.

DANSBY SWANSON YOU ARE UNREAL. 😱 pic.twitter.com/XiUzWeoeBt

— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) July 9, 2026

Last season, the Cubs won The Fielding Bible's award for Defensive Team of the Year. They recorded 84 defensive runs saved (DRS), the second-most in MLB.

This season, the Cubs' DRS count is already 86. The Tampa Bay Rays are the next-closest with 67. Crow-Armstrong, Bregman. and Suzuki all rank within the top 25 in MLB in DRS as well.

You can even take it back to the basics, and the Cubs are still on top. Their 18 fielding errors are the fewest in MLB. Their .990 fielding percentage is tied with the Diamondbacks for the best in baseball.

Seiya Suzuki updated defensive metrics:

+6 Fielding Run Value
+4 Outs Above Average
+11 Defensive Runs Saved
+3 Arm Value

He’s got a legit shot at a Gold Glove this year. Ridiculous improvement. pic.twitter.com/uij0L5Oqd2

— Carson Wolf (@TheWrigleyWire) August 4, 2026

In the 2025 NL Wild Card Series, Swanson made so many crucial defensive plays that San Diego Padres manager Mike Shildt gave him an honorary series MVP nod.

Dansby Swanson Wild Card Series montage 3 of 8:

Slides into CF to stop a slicing one-hopper off Arraez's bat, then fires a strong throw to first.

No. 39 of 110 defensive highlights before the first spring game. pic.twitter.com/KierUsVEBW

— Brendan Miller (@brendan_cubs) December 10, 2025

He almost single-handedly beat us with his glove,” Shildt told reporters after the Cubs clinched the series. “One thing that we don't talk about as much anymore is your defense, and this time of year, your defense -- we play great defense, but Dansby Swanson absolutely beat us with his glove this series.”

These Cubs just might get people to start talking about defense again. And if they can beat anyone with their gloves now, there's no reason they can't do it once again in October.

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