The beginning of the baseball season brings optimism and excitement. So as the Chicago Cubs prepares to ramp up their season with their domestic opener next week, the Cubs Weekly Podcast crew took the opportunity to make some projections for 2025.

One of the more fun ones was their bold prediction for the team in 2025.

“I had two bold predictions,” host Tony Andracki said on the latest episode of the pod. “One was I think Kyle Tucker could win NL MVP. The other was [the] Cubs will have five Gold Glove winners overall.”

[MORE: Which Cubs players could be breakout performers this season?]

Both are daring forecasts, for sure, but not totally unrealistic, either.

Last season, Tucker had 23 home runs, 49 RBI, a .993 OPS, a 4.2 fWAR and a 180 weighted runs created plus (wRC+) – 80 percentage points above league average. All that was in a 78-game sample as he suffered a fractured right shin after fouling a ball off his leg in June.

If Tucker can repeat that level of production, especially since he is in his last season before free agency, it could lead to a big season. He has been an All-Star his last three years and finished fifth in American League MVP voting in 2023.

The Gold Glove prediction by Andracki also seems lofty but is feasible – and it’s like host Elise Menaker’s prediction, too.

“The entire Cubs outfield will win a Gold Glove,” Menaker said.

Ian Happ and Tucker both have Gold Gloves already in their career – Happ has won the NL Gold Glove award in left field three years in a row. Pete Crow-Armstrong is regarded as one of the best defensive outfielders in baseball and could win the award with a full season in the majors.

In the infield, the Cubs have a pair of former Gold Glove winners in Dansby Swanson and Nico Hoerner and a first baseman, Michael Busch, who they believe can win one, too. That creates a pathway for plenty of defensive hardware.

Speaking of awards, host Andy Martínez’ bold prediction had to do with NL MVP – although not a Cubs player winning the award.

“[Crow-Armstrong] receives down-ballot [MVP] votes,” Martínez said. “I’m going with a five-plus WAR season [for Crow-Armstrong], if he gets in six-plus WAR season [range], that’s probably gonna get some down-ballot votes.”

Last season, Crow-Armstrong amassed a 2.3 bWAR season in 123 games. A full season of his elite defense, plus an improved performance at the plate could lead to a big jump in 2025. Seven NL players in 2024 had a bWAR of six or higher – five of them received MVP votes and the other, Reds pitcher Hunter Greene, received down-ballot Cy Young votes.

Host Lance Brozdowski chose to go on the offensive side for his bold prediction.

“I think Dansby Swanson will be the second-most valuable hitter on this team, and it’s very bold,” Brozdowski said.

Last season, among the six qualified Cubs hitters, Swanson ranked last in wRC+ at 99 (one percentage point below league average), behind Seiya Suzuki (138 wRC+), Happ (122 wRC+), Busch (119 wRC+), Cody Bellinger (109 wRC+) and Hoerner (103 wRC+).

“He’s projected as the fourth-best, fifth-best, depending on which projection site you look at,” Brozdowski said. “Last year was the first year he didn’t slug above .400 since 2018. Maybe it had something to do with Wrigley playing down to right-handed power with the wind and everything. But he’s gotta be good. You paid him a ton of money, I think he’s still a very good hitter and has it in him.

“He mentioned in spring that he was kinda banged up for the last year and a half, offseason stuff with his core. There’s a lot of idea here that he could be a ’21, ’22 version of himself where it’s 20% above league average production.”

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