Seiya Suzuki has Officially Broken Out for the Chicago Cubs

After an up-and-down first year and a half in the big leagues, it seems as if Seiya Suzuki has finally figured things out and is ready to help carry the Cubs into the playoffs.

When the Cubs signed Japanese slugger Seiya Suzuki, it was met with much fanfare. You can’t say it was warranted as they were signing a Nippon Pro Baseball league All-Star, Gold Glover, and batting champ who was in the prime of his career at the age of 27. The Cubs believed in him so much that they gave him the biggest contract ever given to a Japanese hitter coming to the States.

Seiya Suzuki’s first year in America was a roller coaster ride. He came out right out of the gates hot and looked like the odds-on favorite for Rookie of the Year. That would lead to a big slump and a month-long trip to the IL. He’d come back firing on all cylinders in July looking like all was well, before yet another valley in August. He would peak again in September instilling some hope for that to carry over to the 2023 season.

The offseason hope would turn into preseason hype as photos and videos would surface of a newly bulked Seiya Suzuki looking ready to demolish opposing pitching in year two in the big leagues. A bit of the hype would diminish as he would suffer an oblique strain and pull out of the WBC and miss the first couple of weeks of this season.

Once he came back, it was more of the same peaks and valleys. He would have had a strong couple of weeks back. He’d hit a lull in early May, before a hot streak where he looked like the real deal. Then after homering on May 23rd for his 6th of the season, he would go 35 games and 153 plate appearances between home runs after her hit a blast on July 9th. He would also just hit .230 while only scoring 12 times and adding eight RBIs.

Seiya Suzuki had to be hoping the All-Star break would do him some good and get him back on track. However, it would not. He would barely hit above .200 during a 19-game stretch from the 14th of July to the 4th of August. If you break it down to the last ten of that stretch he wasn’t even hitting .150. This would lead to the infamous four-game benching as the Cubs were trying to claw their way back into the race. Here is what David Ross would say about this decision:

“He knows he needs to work on some things. It’s hard to do that in-game. We’ll give him some time, and he’ll be back in there when we feel like he can help us win games…It could turn in a day. We’ll talk to the hitting guys, talk to him, and continue to watch batting practice. I don’t think it’s anything long-term. We’re in a position where some other guys are swinging the bat well, and we’re fortunate to have guys who are playing well.”

This decision to give him some time off was just what Seiya Suzuki needed to unlock the best version of himself. Since being inserted back into the lineup he has hit .367 with 7 home runs, 21 RBIs, scored 21 times, a 15% strikeout rate, and has an OPS over .1200. He’s also helped the Cubs go 17-9 during this run to solidify themselves into a Wild card and get them closer to the division-leading Brewers.

So what has been the biggest reason for this huge improvement? Looking at his statcast page, even during his downtimes, has always been impressive. He ranks in at least the 80th percentile in basically all the things you love like expected batting average, average exit velocity, hard hit percentage, and chase percentage. There are a few key stats that have helped lead this improvement.

The first is the raising of his zone swing percentage and his meatball swing percentage. Not only is he swinging at more pitches in the zone, he is swinging more at hittable pitches. Just watching him, there were times it seemed as if he was too passive and he’d be in a 0-2 hole as soon as he stepped in the box. He is starting to be more decisive and aggressive in the zone.

The other two that stand out are his pull percentage and hard hit percentage are up. We all know that most players create the most slug when they hit the ball hard to their pull side. Instead of slapping it the other way like he did last year. He is hitting the ball with authority to left and driving it out of the ballpark at a career-high mark.

Outside of the stats, you can just watch Seiya Suzuki hit and see how different he is. He goes up to the plate confident. He is no longer guessing and making an ugly half-swing on a breaker or watching a heater go right down the middle when he guesses wrong. He goes up to the plate locked in and ready to hit any pitch in the zone and do serious damage or just get the job done to drive in a run.

This is the Seiya Suzuki the Cubs envisioned in the middle of their lineup when they signed him. Should this version stick around for good, the rest of the league could be in trouble down the stretch and for years to come.