This is Day Two of a Cubsmas Advent Calendar. You can read the explanation for the project and Day One here.
One of the most surprising results of the 2023 season is just how much the Cubs overperformed compared to pretty much every projection system in baseball. Now, I can already hear a few of you — likely including Al — who believed in the group Jed Hoyer assembled a lot more than PECOTA or ZiPS. The 83-win season wasn’t a surprise to y’all, but it was a surprise to many, so on Day Two of Cubsmas Advent I wanted to take a look back at what went right for this 2023 Cubs team.