Seiya Suzuki embracing his World Baseball Classic opportunity as springboard to a big season for Cubs

Meghan Montemurro, Chicago Tribune on Feb 17, 2026

Published in Baseball

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MESA, Ariz. — The friendly trash talk has already started at Chicago Cubs camp.

Eight players on the Cubs’ 40-man roster will depart next week for the World Baseball Classic to represent their respective countries. Should two of the favorites, Japan and the United States, meet in the WBC final, it would pit Seiya Suzuki against Pete Crow-Armstrong, Alex Bregman and Matthew Boyd.

“I want to see Pete throw a helmet,” a grinning Suzuki said through interpreter Edwin Stanberry.

And if Suzuki, who is expected to play center field for Japan, catches a fly ball off Crow-Armstrong’s bat, he’s already manifesting how it will play out.

“I want to catch it and dance on it,” added a giddy Suzuki.

An oblique strain forced Suzuki to pull out of the last WBC in 2023. Getting to play in the tournament next month has been a long time coming for Suzuki. The 31-year-old slugger is a key piece for Japan as they look to repeat as WBC champions.

“For me, as a kid, that’s something I’ve always wanted, to play for Team Japan and it is something special,” Suzuki said. “It’s something that I’m looking forward to and that I can keep that experience going through, and learn a lot from that experience.”

Suzuki came into spring training not feeling satisfied with his performance last year. He experienced two extremes with his consistency. Going from a first-half All-Star Game snub after putting up a .263 average and .867 OPS with 24 doubles, 25 home runs and 77 RBIs to a .213 average, .688 OPS, 26 RBIs, seven doubles and seven home runs — five of which came in the final four regular-season games — shows how dangerous Suzuki can be when he’s locked in.

The Cubs need that version more frequently without such significant slumps in between. Despite the second-half struggles, Suzuki shined in his first MLB postseason, slugging three doubles and three home runs in eight games.

“It came with some really high highs and some really low lows,” president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer said of Suzuki’s 2025 at the start of this year’s camp. “I was really happy for him in the way it ended. He was so dangerous for us at the end of the season and so dangerous in the postseason. That was something that was really important to him. He’s a really, really good middle of the order hitter.”

Suzuki isn’t dwelling on how this could be his last season with the Cubs after signing a five-year, $85 million contract before the 2022 season.

“Signing with the team, people expect something from me, I felt like haven’t really reached those yet,” Suzuki said. “So I think I just need to continue to work on myself and make sure I can repay the team and the fans and just go out and have a good season.”

Suzuki’s underlying metrics, even through the prolonged slump, highlight why the Cubs are excited to see what 2026 brings. He produced the best Barrel%, a measure of the number of balls in play, of his career, featuring a 5.1 percentage point increase to 16.6%. He had a higher average launch angle (17.9), which yielded more home runs with this typical line-drive swing path. Suzuki, though, wants to see his 78.1% contact rate increase — tied for 71st among 145 qualified MLB hitters in 2025 — while making sure he maintains a strong slugging percentage.

“The way the swing felt versus what I saw felt different, so just kind of making sure those two match up,” Suzuki said.

Suzuki will gain familiarity, shifting back to right field following one season as the Cubs’ primary designated hitter when Kyle Tucker took his spot in the field. At his best, Suzuki gives the Cubs a threat in the middle of their lineup capable of putting up 35-plus home runs and over 100 RBIs this year.

“The first year, despite enormous success in another league, you’re new and then people are like ‘show me’ and you can’t help but have ‘show me’ on written all over you, that’s just how it’s going to work, but I think Seiya would probably look at (2025) like I did — some things probably better than I’ve ever done in the league and a really bad stretch too,” manager Craig Counsell said. “It’s kind of all a learning experience in my eyes and a road to improvement that you use in Seiya’s mind, ‘I had the best season ever,’ because he continues to improve.”

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