Changes Made by Cubs Slugger Have Led to Best MLB Season in Years

Despite a rough month of June for the Chicago Cubs, they're hanging onto their lead in the National League Central division.

No team is without setbacks or slumps over a 162-game MLB season, and the Cubs have ultimately weathered those storms to continue dominant play nearing the midpoint of the 2025 season.

They still retain the third-best wRC+ in baseball and are second in the league with 43 defensive runs saved.

The obvious issues of starting rotation and bullpen help should be addressed at the trade deadline, and the rotation is set to get a boost later this week with the return of Shota Imanaga.

A young group of stars has propelled Chicago to a stellar season of offensive play with the fielding to match.

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Veterans have played significant roles too, such as catcher Carson Kelly, who is in his 10th year in the league.

Kelly is having his best season since 2019 with the Arizona Diamondbacks, and he’s not alone at his position.

Catchers are outperforming the MLB average OPS by nine points, according to Andrea Arcadipane of The Athletic (subscription required), who did a deep dive recently on the breakout performances by catchers this season, including Kelly.

As Arcadipane points out, Kelly’s biggest strength this season lies in his improvement of quality contact against fastballs, better swing decisions, and less whiffing.

His 20.7 whiff rate is down 2.1 from last season, and his 20.1 chase rate is down from 24.4. Kelly has also increased his zone swing percentage this season.

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This improvement encompasses his quality contact and impressive walk rate (13.7), which has significantly increased from last year (8.0).

How does that all happen ten years into an MLB career? Arcadipane compared his mechanics and found tweaks to Kelly’s pre-pitch and load positions.

These changes involve Kelly starting in a more closed stance with his front heel raised instead of having a flat foot, which Arcadipane admits may not significantly affect the swing itself but rather improve his comfort level.

Kelly also has more counter-rotation, and his elbow is slightly lower in his load position.

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“These changes are allowing Kelly to simplify his mechanics while putting him in a more hitter-ish position to release and make quality contact,” Arcadipane writes.

His plate discipline is also exemplified in his difference between his zone swing rate and chase rate (49%), which ranks third among catchers with at least 90 PAs.

Where Kelly needs to improve is the bottom half of the strike zone.

“Kelly is unable to get the same consistent quality contact off pitches thrown to the lower third of the zone. As a result, pitchers who command well can throw in-zone until Kelly proves he can do damage against these pitches,” Kelly writes.

The simplification of mechanics hasn’t translated to improvement in that lower third of the strike zone, and that makes it easy for pitchers to exploit that.

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He is also showing signs of regression, as his .574 OPS since May 2 is down considerably from 1.347 in March and April.

His lack of quality contact in the lower third limits his ceiling, but it doesn’t completely overshadow all the improvements in his metrics.

Kelly enters play on June 23 slashing .245/.352/.465 with a .816 OPS, 134 OPS+, nine home runs, 25 RBI, and 31 strikeouts to 25 walks.

His career slash line is .226/.311/.381 with a .693 OPS and 90 OPS+. His 13.7 walk rate is tied for No. 23 in baseball.

That’s all the more impressive if it’s all come from slight tweaks in mechanics in the tenth year of his MLB career.

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