Cubs fans, let’s roll!

The Chicago Cubs announced on Friday that starting right fielder Seiya Suzuki is officially back with the team as they open up a six-game road trip against the Los Angeles. Suzuki has been out since the first game of spring training because of a moderate left oblique strain.

The outfielder missed all of spring training and stayed behind in Arizona for a week before heading to Triple-A for his rehab assignment. Suzuki played in four games with the Iowa Cubs and went 4-for-13, with a home run, two RBI, three runs scored, a walk and two strikeouts.

And now, Seiya is back!

Through 11 games, the Cubs offense has been slightly above league average, ranking 14th in MLB with a 101 wRC+ as a team. So, they’ve definitely stayed afloat without Suzuki in the lineup for the first couple of weeks and although there have been a few frustrating losses, you’ll take their current 6-5 record.

Not only is Suzuki back, but Cody Bellinger and Edwin Ríos are both in the lineup, playing against their former team for the first time in the Los Angeles Dodgers. Also, shortstop Dansby Swanson returns after leaving in the sixth inning of Tuesday night’s game and sitting out Wednesday’s series finale against the Seattle Mariners because he was dealing with a cramping issue.

With Suzuki now back in the lineup, Friday’s top-five in the batting order against the Dodgers will most likely stay consistent throughout the season.

2023 Projections for Seiya Suzuki

Baseball Reference Projections
.257/.327/.415, 12 HR, 44 RBI, 8.7 BB%, 23.6 K%, 423 plate appearances

ZiPS Projections
.267/.352/.488, 21 HR, 50 RBI, 10.9 BB%, 24.2 K%, 408 plate appearances

Streamer Projections
.262/.352/.463, 22 HR, 69 RBI, 11.3 BB%, 21.9 K%, 519 plate appearances

Seiya Suzuki 2022 Rookie Season

Overall
.262/.336/.433, 14 HR, 46 RBI, 9.4 BB%, 24.7 K%, 446 plate appearances

You can pretty much split up Suzuki’s 2022 season into three parts. His hot start, pitchers adjusting to him in May and then his final three months after coming back from a finger injury that cost him all of June.

April
21 games, .279/.405/.529, 4 HR, 14 RBI, 16.7 BB%, 27.4 K%, 84 plate appearances

May
20 games, .211/.278/.338, 0 HR, 7 RBI, 8.9 BB%, 32.9 K%, 79 plate appearances

July-End of Season
70 games, .271/.332/.434, 10 HR, 25 RBI, 7.4 BB%, 21.6 K%, 283 plate appearances

Those last 70 games for Suzuki are pretty much the baseline for his projections. There is still room of course for a big breakout season that can elevate Suzuki from a solid player to all-star level if he can tap into his power consistently in 2023.