All offseason, we were told by Cubs President of Baseball Operations Jed Hoyer that their focus for putting together a 2023 team would be defense, especially up the middle.
They have accomplished this by signing Gold Glove winners Dansby Swanson, Cody Bellinger and Tucker Barnhart. Combining this with Gold Glove candidate Nico Hoerner moving to second base and Yan Gomes also providing good work behind the plate, the Cubs are a much better defensive team than they were last year, and you can tell how much better just by the eye test, especially with Bellinger’s work in center field.