Chicago Cubs – They become the first team with a trio of players to hit 40 home runs in a season
That’s right, we’re into historic territory with this one. The Cubs will have one of the best offenses in baseball thanks to first baseman Anthony Rizzo, third baseman Kris Bryant, and outfielder Kyle Schwarber. One particular feat has never been accomplished before and that is three members of the same team have never hit 40 home runs each. That will change in 2018.
The first part of this trio is Bryant. he already has an MVP season under his belt at the young age of 25 and his career high in homers is 39. There’s obviously a good chance he can crack the 40 homer mark, although two of his three seasons have been under 30. Rizzo has been the model of consistency so far in his career, having hit either 31 or 32 bombs the past four seasons. It’s not much of a stretch for him to get ahold of eight more balls through the season. Certainly, it would represent a career high but it’s not an inconceivable jump. The biggest wild card of the bunch is Schwarber, who is looking pretty svelte this season. He hit 30 homers last year with a puny .211 batting average. Even a small improvement cold bring the home runs needed to finish the job.
All three players are right in their prime years which is a great spot for a career season. Home run rates have jumped due to a new style of baseball(ask Justin Verlander, he’ll tell you all about it). Playing in Wrigley which was the fifth best hitters park in 2017 certainly doesn’t hurt their cause either. The stars could align for these three and the balls are going to be flying into the Wrigley bleachers with a high regularity.