I thought quite a bit about how to approach this. The Cubs played eight postseason games as well as their 162-game regular season schedule. I didn’t want to ignore those games in assigning these grades, but even as important as postseason games are, they shouldn’t overwhelm the six-month body of work for each player.

I’m going to split this into two articles, with position players today and pitchers tomorrow.

As always, these are my personal opinions and as such, likely to be highly subective. YMMV, etc.

Kelly was one of the top free-agent signings by any team for the 2025 season. He had the best year of his career, setting career highs in runs, home runs, total bases, OPS+ and bWAR (3.6).

Kelly is under contract for $5 million for 2026, a real bargain. This was an outstanding signing by Jed Hoyer.

Here is Kelly’s cycle, the first for a Cub since 1993, against the A’s March 31:

Here are Kelly’s postgame remarks after the cycle game [VIDEO].

No matter what Zyhir Hope and Jackson Ferris do for the Dodgers — if they ever do anything! — the deal that sent those two to L.A. for Busch is already a big win for the Cubs. Busch has turned himself into a good defender at first base and his 34 home runs were the third-most ever for a Cubs left-handed hitter (only Kyle Schwarber and Billy Williams ever had more).

Busch put up a 4.5 bWAR season and I don’t see any reason he couldn’t continue this for a few more years. He’s under team control for four more seasons and is still pre-arb in 2026.

Here’s his three-homer game against the Cardinals July 4 [VIDEO].

Those three were part of a franchise-record eight home runs that afternoon. Seiya Suzuki, Pete Crow-Armstrong (two), Carson Kelly and Dansby Swanson also went deep.

He hit, nearly winning the batting title. He played the field well and likely will win his second Gold Glove. His 6.1 bWAR ranked tied for fourth in the NL with Matt Olson.

Plus, he’s a fan favorite loved for his hustling play all over the field. Here’s one example of his smart play, a double play turned on a popup against the White Sox July 27 [VIDEO].

I will never understand the angst Cubs fans feel toward Swanson. I suppose it’s the contract, but Swanson is an entirely consistent player. You know he’s going to put up between 4 and 5 WAR every year, OPS about .730, hit 20-25 home runs and play outstanding defense at shortstop. He’s a thoughtful guy who’s a team leader. What’s not to like?

Yes, he strikes out a lot and can go into horrific slumps. But in the end, the Cubs made a good call with this signing.

It was a tale of three seasons for Shaw:

Opening Day to the All-Star break: 63 games, .198/.276/.280, just two home runs and 45 strikeouts. This included a month at Triple-A Iowa.

Post-All-Star break through Aug. 26: 35 games, .299/.343/.680, six doubles, two triples, nine home runs, only 20 strikeouts

It looked like Shaw had turned the corner and then: Aug. 27 to season’s end: 28 games, .213/.290/.348, two home runs, 29 strikeouts.

Just when it looked like Shaw had figured things out, he went into a month-long slump that continued in the postseason, where he was 2-for-17 with seven K’s (though also five walks).

Shaw, just 23, still has some learning to do. The talent is there, though.

Another player many Cubs fans love to complain about, and I don’t get it. Maybe it’s the low BA, maybe it’s his slumps that seem to last forever.

But you know exactly what you’re going to get: about a .780 OPS, 20-25 home runs, a .340 OBP, tons of walks and solid defense in left field. He’s probably going to win his fourth Gold Glove.

Here’s a terrific diving catch he made against the Padres in April [VIDEO].

I graded PCA an A+ at the All-Star break, and you know, he was exactly that. Great defense, a bat that looked like it could produce a 40-40 season, voted an All-Star starter.

It all went south after the break, when he hit just .216/.262/.372 with six home runs and 62 strikeouts in 63 games. Then he vanished in the postseason, going 5-for-27 with 12 strikeouts.

Of course, we can’t rave enough about his defense, where he makes impossible play after impossible play. I could fill up the rest of this page with PCA’s defense; here’s a minute’s worth of some great plays from this year [VIDEO].

Clearly, PCA needs to work on cutting down the strikeouts and perhaps stop swinging for the fences every time at bat and using his speed more. He is just 23. He had a 6.0 bWAR season, which is really good! He’s the likely Gold Glove winner in center field. And I think he’ll get even better.

Suzuki wasn’t real happy when “demoted” to full-time DH when the Cubs traded for Kyle Tucker. But he went to work making himself into a better hitter, and though he didn’t make the All-Star team (largely due to some guy named Ohtani also being a DH), his numbers were certainly good enough for that.

And then when Tucker was injured, Suzuki wound up playing quite a bit of right field anyway, 32 starts there (and all eight in the postseason), as well as 15 games in left field.

Overall he posted only 2.6 bWAR because the metrics say he’s not a very good outfielder, but by the eye test he did all right. He set career highs in home runs, RBI and walks. Like PCA, he slumped badly in the second half, going from a first half where he had an OPS of .867 with 25 home runs in 92 games to just .688 with seven long balls in 59 games after the break.

Tucker got off to a great start and then suffered a finger injury sliding on June 1 [VIDEO].

It was revealed much later that this injury bothered Tucker for much of the season, though he continued to hit well for a month after it (.311/.404/.578 in 25 games in June). Then beginning July 1, Tucker went into a terrible slump where he batted just .189/.325/.235 (25-for-132) with one home run over the next 38 games, culminating with him being booed for appearing to not run out this ground ball Aug. 17 [VIDEO].

He went 0-for-3 that day and 0-for-4 the next, with boos continuing, and then Craig Counsell sat him for three games. When Tucker returned, he went on a tremendous hot streak, batting .364/.462/.727 (16-for-44) over the next 12 games with four home runs.

Then he suffered the calf injury which forced him to miss most of September, and when he returned the bat really wasn’t there. He went 1-for-11 in the final regular season series against the Cardinals and had a decent postseason, batting .259/.375/.370 in 27 at-bats with a home run.

I’ll have more to say about Tucker in subsequent articles.

Somehow, he managed to last the entire season on the roster. I still don’t get this signing, though Cubs players raved about his clubhouse presence and how he mentored some of the younger players on the team. There’s value in that, but Turner produced negative bWAR (-0.1) and this play likely cost the Cubs a game against the Padres in April [VIDEO].

Just to be fair, here’s Turner’s pinch-hit walkoff homer against the Orioles in August [VIDEO].

That was Turner’s third, and as it turned out, last home run of the year. If this is it for Turner — and I suspect it is — that’s a pretty cool memory for a final big-league homer.

McGuire was a savior when the Cubs badly needed one after Miguel Amaya’s oblique injury in May. McGuire had asked for and received his release from the Cubs in mid-May, found no takers and re-signed a few days later. It was only a couple of days after that when Amaya suffered the injury and McGuire was added to the roster.

He hit two home runs in his first game as a Cub [VIDEO].

McGuire played well backing up Kelly, hitting nine home runs in only 44 games, but with Amaya due back in 2026, the team will likely thank McGuire for his help and let him go.

It’s amazing that Amaya played in just 28 games this year — seemed like he was around more than that.

He missed three months after the oblique injury describe above, then was injured again in the very first game he played after returning, suffering an ankle sprain on this play in Toronto [VIDEO].

It’s really a shame, he worked so hard to come back from the oblique and couldn’t even finish one game. Amaya also tried to come back for the postseason but ran out of time.

He should be 100 percent for 2026 and I would expect he and Kelly to make an excellent catching tandem.

Castro had a decent first half for the Twins, batting .245/.335/.407 with 10 home runs in 86 games, and the trade acquiring him for a couple of minor leaguers was generally well-received.

Then Castro hit pretty much like the guy he replaced, Vidal Bruján. Without looking it up, which one of these slash lines is Bruján’s with the Cubs and which is Castro’s?

.222/.234/.289
.170/.245/.240

I take it back — Castro was worse than Bruján. The second slash line is Castro’s as a Cub. He’s a free agent and won’t be back.

The man can hit, no question about it. In three different stints with the Cubs he batted .298/.394/.474 (17-for-57) with two doubles, a triple (!), two home runs, 11 RBI and nine walks.

But he doesn’t really have a position, he hasn’t been a good defensive catcher in the minor leagues and the question is: Can the Cubs carry a guy who’s probably only a DH at 21 years old, or should they trade him?

Just for fun, here’s Ballesteros’ home run hit right to Anthony Rizzo in the bleachers Sept. 13 [VIDEO].

Caissie might have made the postseason roster instead of Ballesteros had he not suffered a concussion on this play [VIDEO].

Caissie has talent, no doubt, and could very well become an outstanding major league hitter. He’ll likely get every chance to make the 2026 Opening Day roster.

This was a reasonable signing that turned out to be, well, pretty bad. Berti had a three-hit game against the Dodgers in Tokyo, then had just 18 more hits in 94 at-bats after that.

I’m including him here because the Cubs used him to pitch the ninth inning July 4 when they were leading the Cardinals 11-1. He wound up allowing a couple of hits, three walks and two runs, but also made this stellar defensive play [VIDEO].

No one picked up Berti after the Cubs released him, but we can always remember that play.

Nicky Lopez, Carlos Santana, Gage Workman and Kevin Alcántara also played for the Cubs this year.

Overall, the Cubs had several players have outstanding offensive seasons, and as you can see from the highlights I’ve posted here, created some indelible memories for all of us.

Tomorrow: Grades for Cubs pitchers.