Top MLB Analyst Makes Bold Prediction for Cubs Regular Season Win Total

The Chicago Cubs are off to a dream start to the 2025 campaign, owners of a solid lead in the National League Central Division and have won more than 30 games.

On another hot streak, Chicago has multiple MVP candidates on the roster and warmer days coming to the Windy City. It's safe to say this is the best year to be a Cubs fan since you-know-when.

As Memorial Day offers a solid checkpoint to assess the standings and league as a whole at roughly the one-third mark of the campaign, ESPN released an article breaking down the biggest takeaways of 2025 so far.

ESPN's panel of analysts each gave their prediction for how many teams would finish with 100 wins and which club would have the best record.

ESPN's Prediction for the Chicago Cubs

While David Schoenfield didn't have any teams reaching the 100-win milestone, he did tab the Cubs to lead the league.

"I'll go with the Cubs for the most wins," he wrote. "Pete Crow-Armstrong''s offense is looking more and more like the real deal, which puts this lineup on another level, and they have the prospect depth to add some pitching help. I have the Cubs clocking in at ... 99 wins."

Many pegged Chicago as a clear favorite in the National League Central before the season, but that was more due to the perceived weakness of the division than the Cubs' standing as real contenders.

Instead, Chicago has proved to be more than a worthy division winner, and the club's potent offense has them positioned as legitimate World Series contenders.

The Cubs are tied for the MLB lead in batting average, sit third in OPS and have hit the third most homers in the sport, trailing only the New York Yankees and Los Angeles Dodgers.

The team's aggressive trade for Kyle Tucker in the offseason has paid dividends, and surprise contributors like Michael Busch, Carson Kelly and Crow-Armstrong

Is the team's pitching as good as you would like to feel comfortable predicting a best-in-baseball finish? Not really.

Chicago is 16th in MLB in team ERA, and the season-ending injury to lefty Justin Steele significantly lowers the ceiling of the staff.

But the Dodgers are actually faring worse on the mound than the Cubs by ERA, and Chicago has a promising young talent in Cade Horton who could help compensate for Steele's loss.

The Cubs have the sort of deep lineup that strikes real fear into good pitching staffs in October, and they have every reason to go all in at the deadline to beef up their own stable of arms.

If they do that, it's not difficult to envision home field advantage at Wrigley all the way through the fall.