Season Report Card: Swanson steady, Brujan disappointing

David Banks - USA Today Sports

Dustin Riese · Senior Writer · 5 hours ago

We continue our trek across the diamond, moving to the right side today. As was the case with second base, the right side of the diamond is equally as good defensively, as two more of the Cubs' six Gold Glove finalists call this side of the diamond home.

There is a reason why pitchers have been having career years with the Cubs the past few seasons, and the Wrigley Field conditions are just one of those reasons. Pitching in front of the Cubs' defense, especially that infield defense, is going to make anyone a better pitcher, and as long as the Cubs continue to focus on that and build their pitching staff around that defense, this team is going to win plenty of games in the near future.

Dansby Swanson

Say what you will about Dansby Swanson, but the bottom line is that he is still a reliable player. Sure, he may be inconsistent at the plate and will struggle with runners on base, but when he does get locked in, he can carry a team offensively, which you saw several times this past season.

He is also one of the better defenders in the game, who, despite not being named a Gold Glove finalist this season, played outstanding defense in 2025 and even won the Wild Card series for the Cubs from his glove alone. Looking back at the big free agent class of 2023, when the Cubs initially signed him, Swanson was by far the best bargain of the group and has been the second-best player out of the bunch behind Trea Turner.

Swanson is who he is at this point in his career, and as frustrating as it is for fans at times, he is the perfect player for this team and has played a vital role in the success they achieved in 2025. Take his offensive numbers at the plate this season. While the .244 average isn't anything to write home about, Swanson was hitting under .200 six weeks into the season before moving down to the No. 8 spot in the lineup.

Once that happened, Swanson began to take off, seeming to thrive in a less pressure-filled spot, which is where the Cubs plan to keep him next season. Low average or not, Swanson hits right around .250 for his career, while the 24 homers were his highest total since joining the Cubs and third highest of his career. He also topped the 75 RBI for the fourth time, finishing with 77 RBIs as he emerged as one of the Cubs' best overall run producers in 2025.

Grade B: This was, without question, one of Swanson's best overall seasons with the Cubs, both at the plate and in the field. Even if it didn't show up in the postseason as much as the fans wanted, there is no denying the season he had, as these are the types of seasons the Cubs need from Swanson over the final few years of his deal.

If there were two areas for him to improve upon, consistency would be one, as he experiences massive peaks and valleys several times throughout the year. Becoming a better contact hitter with runners on base would be another area the Cubs would love for him to improve upon, as they will need him more than ever next season.

Vidal Brujan

When the Cubs traded Matt Mervis to the Miami Marlins for Vidal Brujan last December, there were a lot of question marks surrounding the deal. From the Cubs side, Mervis was a top prospect at one point in his career, but failed to hit at the MLB level, making him an expendable piece.

He became all the more expendable once Michael Busch became the hitter he was, which prompted the trade to send Mervis to Miami, where he is receiving far more playing time. Brujan, on the other hand, was seen as a utility player with speed, someone the Cubs planned to use all around the diamond in specific situations.

Talk about a deal gone wrong for Chicago, Brujan was about as big a bust as you can have, hitting just .222 across 36 games with 10 hits as the Cubs wound up releasing him in July. From there, Brujan bounced around the final few months, spending some time with the Orioles before latching on with Atlanta, and the rest is history, as he will be looking for a new opportunity next season.

Grade F: It's hard to earn an F for a grade, no matter how much you struggle, but Brujan was arguably the Cubs' worst player in 2025. From horrendous defense at the hot corner to doing next to nothing at the plate, Brujan was literally a placeholder on the bench that didn't bring any value with him.

In fact, the one area of his game the Cubs could've used was his speed, but when you can't get on base, speed can only take you so far, as he swiped just two bases with the Cubs this season. This is one of the trades that didn't work out in Jed Hoyer's favor, but it was also a deal he didn't have to give up much capital to get.

The Cubs also added Nicky Lopez to their roster during the season, and despite being listed as a shortstop, Lopez saw all his playing time in Chicago come at the hot corner. Limited or not, Lopez came through with an RBI hit in his brief time here and nearly had as many RBIs as Brujan before being released in June.