After nearly a month, the Cubs offense is shocking people with their output.  Obviously we shouldn't expect them to continue to slaughter the ball, and their recent series with the hapless Nationals has shown us that even a well-rounded offense can be shut down.  However, as the month of April draws to a close, we thought we'd take a closer look at how the Cubs players compare with the rest of the league by position. 

C Geo Soto - 4th with 9 runs scored, 2nd in doubles with 7, 3rd in homers with 3, 2nd in RBI with 14, 1st in batting average at .316, 2nd in OBP at .415, 1st in OPS at .959.  

Who else compares: Brian McCann, Atlanta - with a .915 OPS, 5 HR and 12 RBI, McCann is the only catcher to even come close to Soto's output thus far.

1B Derrek Lee - 2nd with 22 runs scored, 2nd in doubles with 8, 2nd in homers with 7, 2nd in RBI with 21, 2nd in batting average with .359, 2nd in OBP with .432, 3rd in OPS with 1.092

Who else compares: Albert Pujols and Lance Berkman have both started off just as hot as Derrek Lee.  Pujols is batting .376 with 5 homers, 20 RBI, and an OPS of 1.170, while Berkman has hit 8 homers, driven in 23 RBI, and is batting .322 with a .406 OBP and 1.117 OPS.  It's interesting that the NL Central seems to house the best first basemen in the league.

2B Mark DeRosa - 6th with 12 runs scored, tied for 6th in doubles with 5, tied for 4th with 3 homers, 2nd with 17 RBI, 5th with a .274 AVG, 2nd with an OBP of .386, 2nd with an OPS of .823

Who else compares: DeRo falls into the middle of the pack, although the overall consistency of his game has him as being the second best second baseman in OPS.  Comparatively, Chase Utley is far and away the best second baseman so far, having hit 10 homeruns while batting .359.  Back on earth, DeRosa's two top contemporaries are Jeff "Royal K-Hole" Kent (.286 AVG, 6 2B, 3 HR, 12 RBI, .810 OPS) and Dan Uggla (.263 AVG, 8 2B, 3 HR, 11 RBI, .800 OPS). 

3B Aramis Ramirez - 2nd with 21 runs scored, 4th with 8 doubles, tied for 4th with 6 HR, 5th with 19 RBI, 6th with .281 AVG, 3rd with .397 OBP, 3rd with .949 OPS.

Who else compares: Ramirez is now bar-none the best third baseman in the NL Central, but Chipper Jones is a force of nature with the Braves this year.  He's batting .433 with 7 homers and 20 RBI.  Closer to A-Ram's level are David Wright (.292 AVG, 10 2B, 4 HR, 21 RBI, .980 OPS) and Edwin Encarnacion (.289 AVG, 5 2B, 6 HR, 12 RBI .923 OPS).

SS Ryan Theriot - 5th with 16 runs scored, tied for 6th with 6 doubles, tied for 10th with 1 HR, tied for 13th with 7 RBI, tied for 2nd with 6 steals, 4th with a .326 AVG, tied for 3rd with .400 OBP, 5th with .849 OPS.

LF The Cubs do not currently have an outfielder who qualifies as a left fielder due to the injury of the Fonz and the sucktitude of Thunder Matt.

CF Reed Johnson - 7th in runs scored with 13, tied for 9th with 3 doubles, 7th with 9 RBI, 2nd with .324 AVG, 2nd with .410 OBP, 5th with .776 OPS.

Who else compares: Over in Pittsburgh, Nate McLouth is wasting a career year.  Huh.  Maybe the Cubs can snag him for Felix.  Anyway, while Reed has a tremendous number of hits and has a great OBP, and while he remains one of the stronger of a weak pool of center fielders, the two guys he best compares with are ... ::sigh:: Corey Patterson (.230 AVG, .293 OBP, 7 doubles, 4 homers, 11 RBI, 4 steals, .806 OBP) and Carlos Beltran (.224 AVG, .359 OBP, 10 doubles, 2 homers, 13 RBI, .771 OBP).

RF Kosuke Fukudome - 3rd with 18 runs scored, tied for 3rd with 7 doubles, tied for first with 2 triples, tied for 14 with 1 homer, tied for 13th with 9 RBI, tied for 3rd with 3 steals, 3rd with a .326 AVG, 1st wit a .444 OBP, 3rd with an OPS of .928.

Who else compares: Only two right fielders have a higher OPS than Fooky right now - Jayson Werth (.292 AVG, .386 OBP, 5 2B, 5 HR, and 12 RBI), and Justin Upton (.333 AVG, .376 OBP, 5 doubles, 5 HR, 14 RBI). 

Ultimately, the Cubs are pretty solid, and in some positions they appear stacked.  However, taking a purely analytical look at these numbers, I'm starting to feel convinced that Fukudome does not belong in the #5 spot of the lineup.  He's perfect, however, to be a #2 guy, and should he get out of his strikeout funk, Soto may be ideal to protect Ramirez.

Regardless, left field aside, the Cubs are better than in the middle at every position, and at three they have guys who can stand head-to-head with anybody else in the National League.  This has to be a first.