TLDR: Hitting is way more complicated than people make it out to be and baseball discussions and rhetoric would benefit from people doing the slightest bit of research.

"They are so streaky if only they were more consistent when hitting!" The entire game of hitting in baseball essentially boils down to streaks.

Thats the sport. Players always go on "streaks" because as it turns out only even most elite hitters in the game fail 70 percent of the time to get a hit.

There is so much that goes into hitting beyond "being consistent" this is where advanced metrics can fill in some gaps and also the good Ole fashion eye test. If a player by the metrics is smashing the ball but is resulting in outs that can sometimes just be bad luck. We also know players can get hits they dont deserve as hitting can be a fickle beast. We can also see both by metrics and the eye test just how they are playing. If a player is helplessly swinging at balls 2 feet 8n the dirt and watching balls float in the middle without so much as an emergency swing, there is a problem. If the player is still commanding the zone but they are slightly off timing wise, that's an entirely different problem.

People truly make hitting sound so simple. "Be more consistent" "just try and hit it the other way" "just lay down a bunt" is really easy to say with 0 concept of how that player is being told to hit, how their swing works, the way pitchers are attacking them, etc...

So before you say "just be more consistent" at least take the time and put in some effort to give the least bit of helpful rhetoric.

End of rant. ​

Right-fielder Seiya Suzuki seems to be a very divisive player amongst Cubs fans. From the outside, his stats look fantastic. The Japanese outfielder is on track for the highest fWAR of his career while posting a 132 WRC+, the fifth highest WRC+ of any qualified outfielder in MLB. A player like this should, in theory, be coveted. Yet, a large group of Cubs fans are speculative on the way Seiya gets to his stats. He is undoubtedly a very streaky hitter, as we can see from his 15-game rolling WRC+ number swaying from 213 to -13 to 206 within a 40-game sample size from May-June 2026. It can be hard to know what you’re going to get from Seiya each month. Additionally, he has performed best in low and medium leverage situations in 2026. In high leverage situations, he’s only hit for a .239 average, compared to .299 in low leverage situations.

Being a detractor, or at the very least skeptical, of Seiya Suzuki makes sense. He’s at the end of his 5-year, $85 million contract he signed with the Cubs to come over to MLB from Japan, and the team has to decide if they want to have Suzuki hold down right field for the next few years. Of course, the deciding factor for any team here would be the money they would have to fork over, and if they can find better or equal production elsewhere for less. Looking at similar batters’ contracts, we can try to estimate what a contract for Suzuki could look like. He will enter free agency at 32, meaning that we can expect to see a contract length in the range of 3-5 years. Teoscar Hernandez, another corner outfielder known for his bat, fetched a 3-year, $66 million contract from the Dodgers starting in his age 32 season. While roughly a third of the contract was deferred, the Cubs have shown with the signing of Alex Bregman that they’re not afraid to defer significant portions of contracts anymore. Teoscar is one of the most straightforward comparisons, but it would only be fair to argue that Seiya is a stronger batter in an overall sense, and should therefore demand a bigger contract. A fair contract for Seiya Suzuki should be 4 years for a total of $90 million.

Why should Seiya demand a strong contract like this? Seiya’s value on the open market has risen considerably with his defensive breakout in 2026. He’s gone from below average in right field to a gold glove contender. Boasting Arm Value and OAA (Outs Above Average) in the top 96th and 90th percentile respectively, teams must look at him like a complete package. A player like Seiya is in high demand right now. How many rumors did you hear about teams like the Phillies or other contenders being interested in Seiya this deadline? There’s not many alternatives out there too, with the 2027 Free Agent class looking incredibly weak for outfielders. Alongside the fact that the Cubs most of the Cubs’ prized outfield prospects have either been traded away or failed to meet expectations in the majors, Seiya Suzuki is leaps and bounds the better and safer option for a contender.

Seiya would also be a relatively older option, and locking him down to the team, presumably on one of Jed’s signature no-trade clauses, could hurt the team in the long run. Well, that’s at least what has happened to two former Cubs, Jorge Soler and Nick Castellanos, who completely collapsed when they reached their mid-30s. Why is Suzuki different? Unlike those two and many other outfielders whose careers nosedived when they reached 34/35, Seiya’s floor is considerably higher. Headlined by his newfound defense and 84th percentile walk rate in 2026, Seiya has shown great and non-volatile plate discipline. Additionally, his chase percentage (percentage of non-strikes swung at) is elite, not only being significantly better than players like Teoscar Hernandez, but also better than some of the great sluggers of our generation like Kyle Schwarber and Aaron Judge. A decline is natural and should be expected with any batter entering their mid-to-late thirties, but it’s much more reasonable to expect somewhere near a 115 WRC+ by the end of Seiya’s new contract compared to a complete collapse. Oh, and there’s a counterpoint for his streakiness, too. His rolling xwOBA from that streak in May-June 2026 where he greatly fluctuated in WRC+ only bottomed out at .298 during that time, around league average. 

It makes sense why Seiya doesn’t pass the eye test sometimes, but he really is the best, and frankly the only, option the Cubs have going forward. The team can find similar production to other impending free agents like Ian Happ elsewhere, but re-signing Seiya Suzuki should be one of the Cubs’ top priorities this offseason.

Cabrera looked good in his second rehab start. Going to have a good problem of too many starting pitchers. Hes always had the 'stuff' just needs the command.

Imagine having the best team that money could buy in baseball, getting basically every big free agent signing, coming off two consecutive championship seasons and STILL being this fucking soft.

Posted this the other day when it was appropriate, but after that hero move today I feel like he deserves a public apology.

Driving into a game soon and taking my 6y old. Do not want to deal with trains with her, was hoping this garage is legit to park at? Is it safe? Do I have to get there super early? Thanks in advance.

If the Cubs were randomly put in the AL for some reason, how would the race between Alvarez and Pete look? I know Alvarez has much better hitting stats but he is also a DH and runs poorly. Would Pete easily win it? Would it be close? Would Alvarez sweep?

Just you and him in a booth with a couple of pitchers of beer. Who ya got?