Carson Kelly is on an incredible offensive tear to begin the 2025 season.

The catcher, whom the Cubs signed as a free agent in December, is slashing .419/.578/1.097 (1.675 OPS) in 45 plate appearances this season. Kelly has hit six home runs and driven in 18 runs, complete with his historic cycle against the Athletics on March 31 – the first for a Cub since Mark Grace in 1993.

[How Carson Kelly has gone from under-the-radar to star for Cubs]

The 30-year-old has never seen this level of success at the plate in his career since debuting with the St. Louis Cardinals in 2016, but this year it might have something to do with the guy he studied in the offseason: Barry Bonds.

Kelly made adjustments to his stance and swing in the winter, according to Marquee Sports Network’s Elise Menaker who spoke with him about it.

“He was focusing more on being on his back hip. What happens when you do that? You’re going to get more power,” Menaker said. “What’s working for him now is getting into his back side … That’s because he was watching a lot of Barry Bonds videos.”

Kelly’s 60 career home runs aren’t quite the MLB-record 762 that Bonds hit in his career, but it’s the way both players swing the bat that is producing for Kelly the way it did for Bonds.

With the Detroit Tigers and the Texas Rangers last year, Kelly was lunging more towards the ball in his swing – which is something Menaker explained with a side-by-side comparison. Kelly hit just .238 with nine home runs and a .687 OPS across 313 plate appearances with both clubs in 2024.

This season, Kelly is emulating the legendary slugger by sitting back and giving himself more time to let the ball travel.

Kelly is currently on pace for his lowest chase rate of his career and as a result, his strikeout rate is way down and his walk rate is way up.

“It’s because of these mechanical changes translating,” Menaker said. “He’s balanced, he’s consistent, he’s powerful and it’s working.”