The Japanese slugger’s historical splits reveal a recurring pattern: as summer temperatures rise, so does his production. Track the statistical trends signaling an explosive turnaround for Chicago’s streaky outfielder.
Chicago Cubs outfielder Seiya Suzuki has always been a streaky hitter.
That has been clear in each of his five Major League seasons. When he’s in a groove at the plate, he’s easily one of the most fun Cubs hitters to watch. When he’s slumping, he’s one of the worst hitters to watch.
Unfortunately, Suzuki has looked like the latter version of those two hitters recently. The Japanese slugger is completely lost at the plate right now and continues to put together uncompetitive at-bats at the top of the Cubs lineup.
Suzuki is batting just .160 with two doubles, three RBI, and 28 strikeouts in his last 21 games. He has zero home runs during this stretch and has had 13 hitless contests since May 10. His .160/.200/.185 slash line and 32.9% strikeout rate over these 21 games highlight just how much he has struggled at the plate.
Before this 21-game stretch, Suzuki was the hottest hitter on this Cubs team. He batted .329 with seven home runs, three doubles, and 15 RBI across 21 games from April 15 to May 9 and was simply unstoppable with a 1.080 OPS.
The problem with Suzuki is that his highs are really high and his lows are really low. The Cubs are definitely feeling his lows on offense right now, as they are 5-16 since he started reeling at the plate.
However, there shouldn’t be too much concern surrounding Suzuki right now. This is who he has always been offensively, and his bat usually heats up as the season goes on.
Suzuki has notoriously been a poor hitter in both May and June throughout his career. He then heats up in July and August before exploding in September/October. That has been the case since the outfielder entered the league in 2022.
Here are Suzuki’s hitting splits each month throughout his five-year career:
May: .241/.313/.424, 16 HRs, 63 RBI, 120 games
June: .220/.285/.413, 13 HRs, 36 RBI, 73 games
July: .261/.329/.444, 15 HRs, 51 RBI, 97 games
August: .272/.354/.447, 12 HRs, 43 RBI, 102 games
September/October: .312/.403/.547, 18 HRs, 55 RBI, 91 games
There’s a major difference in Suzuki’s numbers from May/June to July through October. He seems to heat up as the weather warms up and stays hot through the fall.
It’s hard to really pinpoint when Suzuki will break out of his current slump. He continues to hit poorly with runners in scoring position (.123 batting average) and has been a liability in Chicago’s lineup since the beginning of May.
But Suzuki will eventually break out of this slump. Once he does, he’ll provide a big boost to this struggling Cubs offense. The North Siders were 19-7 in his first 26 games this season before he went on this 21-game slump.
