What To Watch Out for as Cubs Restart Regular Season

The beginning to the Chicago Cubs‘ season has been quite unusual.

They started their spring training earlier than everyone. They had a shorter ramp up period before they left for Japan. There, they played two games at the Tokyo Dome against the Los Angeles Dodgers (and dropped both) before returning to Mesa, Arizona, for one last week of camp.

But finally, we’ve made it — the start (or in the Cubs’ case, the restart) of the 2025 regular season.

We’re obviously still so early on, and as we learn every year, the season never goes how we expect it to going in. Still, there are some things already on the mind that Cubs fans should continue monitor.

Here are four big things I’ve got my eye on.

How Will Nico Hoerner’s Start of the Year Go?

Nico Hoerner had far from a normal offseason.

He had right flexor tendon surgery on Oct. 11, and though the season was so far away at that point in time, there were real concerns over when he’d be able to play in games.

His recovery cost him the Tokyo trip, as the Cubs felt it was better for him to stay back and get at-bats in minor league games. But ultimately, he was ruled ready to go for the domestic opener.

Now, the questions will revolve around how Hoerner will perform entering the season. Again, his offseason was far from normal. He spent much of it rehabbing and going through throwing progressions.

And he seemingly still isn’t fully 100 percent, at least not enough to take the backup shortstop mantle. Cubs manager Craig Counsell told reporters in Arizona earlier this week that “Early in the season, if something would happen to Dansby [Swanson], I think you’d probably see somebody else there. But as we get into the end of April and things like that, I think, absolutely, Nico will be the guy.”

So, Hoerner is healthy enough to start the season back at second base. That’s of course great news for the Cubs. It gives them another Gold Glove infielder and helps extend the bench.

But how he performs to start the year, after months spent recovering from surgery, is something to watch.

Can Pete Crow-Armstrong, Miguel Amaya Carry Over Their Second-Half Success?

There are a number of established players on the Cubs’ roster who should be the ones expected to lead them back to the postseason.

At the same time, young players playing well could go a long way toward helping the Cubs reach their goals. Two of the most prominent on this ballclub, of course, are Pete Crow-Armstrong and Miguel Amaya.

In 2024, we saw Crow-Armstrong take over in center field, and Amaya became the top catcher as there was a revolving door in the rest of the group. Crow-Armstrong displayed elite defense and phenomenal baserunning instincts, and pitchers praised Amaya’s work behind the plate.

However, both struggled with the bat for a long time. The Cubs stuck with them, allowing them to rack up the plate appearances and get more experience against big league pitchers. But it essentially wasn’t until the second half of the season that things started to click.

Amaya had a quick break in early July, where he worked on dropping the leg kick in his swing in favor of a wider stance and a heel lift. He returned on July 7, and the results were much more positive. From then through the end of the year, he hit .282 with a .799 OPS and a 124 wRC+.

Meanwhile, Crow-Armstrong did a hitting drill in Kansas City at the end of July featuring a leg kick. The hitting group decided to have him add the leg kick to real at-bats, and his own results flipped. From July 27 on, he hit .289 with an .806 OPS and a 123 wRC+.

There was real second-half success for these two young Cubs. The hope is those were real improvements that will carry into 2025.

Crow-Armstrong and Amaya had great spring showings (1.368 and 1.327 OPS, respectively), and Amaya also had an RBI double in the first regular season game in Tokyo. Their performances going into the full-season slate is a big subject to watch.

[Read more: 2025 Breakout Candidate: Cubs Center Fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong]

How Will Ben Brown Do as He Re-enters the Cubs’ Rotation?

If you’d been told at the start of spring that Ben Brown would be named the fifth starter, that probably would’ve come as a bit of a shock. But Counsell officially added Brown to the Cubs’ rotation to start the year, and he gets the chance to pick up where he left off last summer.

Brown split time between the rotation and bullpen in 2024. As a starter, though, he posted a 3.23 ERA and a 0.97 WHIP in eight outings. He also opened eyes when he struck out 10 over seven no-hit innings in Milwaukee on May 28.

However, he only pitched twice more before a neck issue put him on the shelf. He didn’t pitch again last year, ending his rookie campaign after only 55 1/3 innings.

But Brown is as intriguing of an option as the Cubs have. Last year, his average fastball velocity (96.4 mph) finished in the 86th percentile. His strikeout rate (28.8%) was 87th percentile. He had an overall whiff rate of 31.4% (88th percentile), and his curveball, specifically, got whiffs at a 51% rate.

Brown brings high velocity and a strong swing-and-miss pitch to the rotation. The Cubs have good starters in that group, but none really attack hitters and get outs in the way Brown does.

The Cubs will be cautious with his workload this season, but he really is an interesting option for the rotation. Keep your eye on how he performs while he’s there.

Can Shaw Be the One to Lock Down Third Base?

Matt Shaw entered the year as the Cubs’ top prospect for a reason. The team and outside evaluators are all high on his potential and believe in him as a productive big leaguer.

He’s quickly risen through the ranks and made his MLB debut in Tokyo last week. Interestingly, though Shaw came up and was drafted as a middle infielder, he officially hit the big leagues as a third baseman.

This is something that’s been in the works for a while. The offseason after 2023, Shaw said he took “probably 99 percent” of his reps at third. He then spent well over half of his innings at the hot corner last season, and evaluators noted his progress defensively.

The clearest route to big league playing time for the Cubs was at third base, and Shaw is the one getting the next crack at it.

Though he made a throwing error in Tokyo, he otherwise looked solid there. He even had a nice diving stop in Game 2. There are reasons to be optimistic with him at third base.

He did look a bit overmatched at the plate. But like with Crow-Armstrong and Amaya, the hope is things will click as he gets more at-bats. He’s hit at every level, and there’s no reason to believe he won’t be able to do it in the majors.

Obviously, the Cubs are in a position where the playoffs are the expectation this season. Shaw finding success could certainly help them get there, but they’ll also have to figure out how to balance their goals with his personal development in case he does struggle.

His performance at third in his first foray in the majors, then, is something to keep on watching.

[Read more: Matt Shaw Is Putting in the Work To Break Out With the Cubs in 2025]

Here’s the Cubs’ Re-Opening Day Roster

Rotation: Justin Steele, Shota Imanaga, Jameson Taillon, Matthew Boyd, Ben Brown

Bullpen: Ryan Pressly, Porter Hodge, Nate Pearson, Julian Merryweather, Brad Keller, Colin Rea, Eli Morgan, Caleb Thielbar

Catchers: Miguel Amaya, Carson Kelly

Infielders: Michael Busch, Nico Hoerner, Dansby Swanson, Matt Shaw, Justin Turner, Jon Berti, Gage Workman

Outfielders: Ian Happ, Pete Crow-Armstrong, Kyle Tucker, Seiya Suzuki

Injured list: Javier Assad (15-day, left oblique strain), Tyson Miller (15-day, left hip impingement), Ryan Brasier (15-day, left groin strain), Vidal Bruján (10-day, right elbow sprain)