3 Most Impressive Cubs Players During First Homestand

The Chicago Cubs completed their first homestand of the season. 

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The Cubs didn’t play their best baseball in this homestand, as they went 3-3 in two series against the Washington Nationals and Los Angeles Angels. Losing two of three games to the Nationals to begin the season wasn’t great. 

However, there were a lot of positives to come out of these first two series. Here are three players who made a strong impact during this six-game homestand. 

Hunter Harvey 

The Cubs took a chance on Hunter Harvey in free agency following an injury-riddled 2025 season. In his first few appearances for the North Siders this year, Harvey has thrown the ball well. 

He tossed one scoreless inning with one hit against the Nationals on March 29 and then threw 1 ⅓ shutout innings with one hit and three strikeouts against the Angels on Wednesday. It’s clear that Harvey is going to be a big part of this bullpen this year. 

Although the right-hander allowed two runners to score when he relieved Matthew Boyd in the sixth inning on Wednesday, he didn’t allow much hard contact. Jo Adell hit a slow chopper up in the middle that barely got through, and Alex Bregman couldn’t field a 70.2 mph grounder. Harvey definitely has the stuff to thrive in the later innings. 

Ben Brown

There were question marks about how Ben Brown would look in 2026. However, the 26-year-old has answered the bell in the early going. Brown has delivered two solid relief appearances so far this season. 

He allowed two runs across 3 ⅓ innings against the Nationals on Opening Day and threw 3 ⅓ scoreless innings with one hit, one walk, and five strikeouts against the Angels on Tuesday. What was most impressive about Brown in those two appearances was his swing-and-miss stuff. 

He has struck out eight batters across 6 ⅔ innings of work, which included inducing nine whiffs in Tuesday’s relief appearance. Brown had five swings and misses on his four-seam fastball, three on his knuckle curve, and one on his newly developed sinker. This is a nice start to the season for the right-hander.  

Nico Hoerner

There are a few Cubs hitters off to a solid start this season. Miguel Amaya is 3-for-8 with one home run and two RBI in his three games played, and Ian Happ already has three home runs across his 28 plate appearances. 

Nico Hoerner, though, just continues to be a hits machine for the North Siders. After going 3-for-5 with two doubles, one run scored, and one RBI, the 28-year-old is off to a great start this season. 

He is now 7-for-22 at the plate (.318) with three RBI and four stolen bases in the first six games of the season. Hoerner continues to be a game-changer offensively and will remain a key part of Chicago’s offense throughout the 2026 season.

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