Chicago Cubs: Analysts pick under-the-radar impact players for 2025 season

The Chicago Cubs have, for the most part, assembled their roster for the 2025 season– a year they’ve declared themselves to be “all in” regarding the pursuit of postseason play.

We certainly know who the stars in that playoff push are supposed to be.

Kyle Tucker is regarded as the impact player of the team, providing elite-level ability to a lineup that desperately needed a high-end player who could carry the team for days at a time.

Justin Steele, Shota Imanaga, Jaimeson Taillon, and Matthew Boyd are expected to be the anchors of the starting rotation.

Ryan Pressly is pegged for the closer role, backed by setup man Porter Hodge.

Catcher Carson Kelly will also serve a crucial, if somewhat under-regarded, role as co-starting catcher alongside Miguel Amaya.

New Heroes For The Chicago Cubs?

Baseball, however, is theater of the unexpected. A long and winding season often sees expectations fall by the wayside and unexpected heroes take prominence.

This coming season should be no different.

The voices of the Cubs Weekly Podcast at the Marquee Sports Network recently gave their thoughts on who may be the Cubs’ under-the-radar heroes of 2025.

Under-The-Radar Impact Players

Elise Menaker believes that Chicago’s top pitching prospect will make his presence felt at some point during the season.

“Cade Horton I think is someone who is going to be under the radar until he’s not,” Menaker said. “I had a tough time even saying he’s ‘under the radar’ now because he’s on our radar. But because I think we’re going to forget about him for a little bit, and we’ll see how he pitches. There should be an opportunity and a point where he’s called up, that’s why I say he’s under the radar.”

The 23-year-old Horton is coming off a disappointing 2024 season shut down early due to a shoulder injury. Reportedly back to 100% now, the Cubs’ 2022 first round draft pick has a very high ceiling if he can get past his history of injury.

Lance Brozdowski feels that non-roster invitee pitcher Brad Keller could play an important role on the team before all is said and done.

“I like Brad Keller. This isn’t maybe totally off the radar because if you’ve been paying attention to spring, his velo has been up and he’s looked really good,” Brozdowski added. “I don’t think he’s going to be a guy right out of the gate that’s like on a major league roster and has impact, but you’re always going to run into some kind of injury here or there. I’m not sure if it’s a leverage relief but I could see it more of a multi-inning role.”

The top notch performance this spring from the 29-year-old, 7-year veteran has opened some eyes and it certainly should’ve earned him a roster spot, as well as a shot at contributing at some point during the season.

The Most “Under-The-Radar”

Tony Andracki went way off the beaten path with his pick for under-the-radar 2025 Cub. His choice has yet to play a game of major league baseball and isn’t even on MLB.com’s list of the Top 30 Cubs prospects.

“My thought on this would be Frankie Scalzo Jr.,” Andracki said. “I think he fits in the Porter Hodge [mold], that kind of ‘off-the-radar’ guy reliever who topped out in Triple-A last year.”

The 25-year-old Scalzo definitely killed it last year, posting a combined 2.14 ERA in Double-A and Triple-A in 54.2 innings over 45 total games. For him to be called up and play a crucial role, however, would mean that a distressed Cubs bullpen had been put through the wringer, which, of course, is always going to be a possibility.

With expectations high and young talent pushing for a chance to be seen, the 2025 season should be an interesting one.

Source: https://www.chicitysports.com/chicago-cubs-under-the-radar-2025-horton?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=chicago-cubs-under-the-radar-2025-horton