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Chicago Cubs on Pace To Become First MLB Team in 25 Years To Pull off Rare Feat
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Chicago Cubs on Pace To Become First MLB Team in 25 Years To Pull off Rare Feat

Originally posted on Chicago Cubs on SI  |  By Maddy Hudak  |  Last updated May 27, 2025 5:00 PM ET

The Chicago Cubs lead the NL Central with a 33-21 record, riding their dynamic offense and appearing to be commanding World Series contenders.

The Cubs have one of the strongest lineups in the sport when it comes to consistent scoring—and that has translated to wins.

Chicago leads the MLB in several metrics through the first quarter of the 2025 season; RBI (316), hits (496) and runs (324).

Led largely by the strong outfield duo of Seiya Suzuki and Pete Crow-Armstrong, who rank No. 1 and No. 2, respectively, in RBI among league batters, the Cubs are on pace to break a historical record that illustrates their success.

Could Chicago Cubs Break This MLB Record Held by 2000 White Sox?

As researched by Paul Hembekides of Get Up ESPN, Chicago is averaging six runs per game with a total of 324 through 54 contests.

Should the Cubs retain that pace, they would become the first MLB team to average 6-plus runs per game since the 2000 Chicago White Sox, and the first National League team to pull off that feat since the 1953 then-Brooklyn Dodgers.

The White Sox reached the postseason for the first time since 1993 that year and had the best American League record for the sixth time in franchise history.

The Dodgers lost in the World Series the year they accomplished that feat, but posted their best single-season winning percentage in franchise history, held until 2022.

Simply put, the metric correlates with success both during the year and in the playoffs for the teams that are to average that type of run production.

This is encouraging after a narrow 3-1 win against the Colorado Rockies, which marked the second time in seven days that the team won while scoring three runs or fewer.

However, one could easily interpret that as the team demonstrating a proven ability to win in tough moments. It also shows how strong their pacing is to have two recent lower-scoring contests and still average six runs per game.

Chicago is slashing .263/.336/.455 with a 125 OPS+, and their on-base percentage ranks No. 3 in the league.

This has placed the two best run producers -- Suzuki and Crow-Armstrong -- in advantageous situations with runners on base, allowing them to record 97 RBI out of the MLB-leading total of 324 runs scored.

Should the Cubs keep up this feverish pace on offense, they should be considered dangerous contenders by the rest of the league.

More From Cubs On SI


This article first appeared on Chicago Cubs on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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