Pete Crow-Armstrong arrived at Petco Park with the kind of regular season that changes how a player is greeted in every visiting ballpark. The Cubs center fielder, now preparing for Tuesday’s National League Wild Card Series opener against San Diego, turned an early slump into a 40-40 season, an MVP-caliber campaign and a new October assignment at the same park where his turnaround began.
Key takeaways
- Crow-Armstrong became the seventh player in Major League history with at least 40 home runs and 40 stolen bases in a season.
- He finished the 162-game schedule at .280/.372/.570 with 45 homers, 31 doubles, 41 steals, 107 RBIs and 119 runs.
- His 45 home runs tied for the MLB lead, while his 10.6 fWAR reflected his impact at the plate, in center field and on the bases.
- After April 28, Crow-Armstrong posted a 1.009 OPS through the end of the regular season.
- Chicago opens the NL Wild Card Series on Tuesday night at Petco Park.
Petco Park was an early turning point
It did not look like an all-time season when the Cubs visited San Diego in late April. Crow-Armstrong entered the April 28 game batting .238 with a .613 OPS, one home run and 28 games behind him. Before that game, frustration was visible during pregame work as he sent balls into the top of the batting cage and tossed his gloves into a trash can while heading back toward the tunnel.
Then came a three-run homer against Padres left-hander Wandy Peralta, ending a 77-plate-appearance homerless stretch. Crow-Armstrong homered again the following day and later drove in a run on a groundout against Adrian Morejon’s 98.3 mph fastball.
He had shown one encouraging sign even while his overall line lagged: through April 29, he owned a .759 OPS against left-handed pitching. As the season moved along, Crow-Armstrong set up closer to the plate versus lefties, aiding both his pitch recognition and his control of the strike zone.
“The way he could spoil pitches and let others go was impressive,” Cubs president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer said. “That is what really launched his season. Last year there were legitimate questions about whether it could last. This season felt different once he began taking pitches, drawing walks and making pitchers come into the zone. At that point, it was clear this was the player he had become.”
Crow-Armstrong also reshaped pieces of his swing. He lowered his hands, narrowed his stance and settled into a more athletic position with his leg kick. A conversation with Alex Bregman added another detail to his approach: look for one particular pitch during each trip to the plate and make that search its own competition.
A complete player carries the Cubs into October
The adjustments, plus greater familiarity with major league pitching, turned Crow-Armstrong into Chicago’s leadoff catalyst. From June 16 through the final day of the regular season, he produced 7.1 fWAR, more than any other player accumulated over the full season. Bobby Witt Jr. ranked next with 7.0 fWAR.
Among qualified hitters, Crow-Armstrong also recorded the largest rise in walk rate, up 6.9 percentage points, and the biggest drop in swing rate, down 10.0 points. Those numbers matched the player the Cubs saw every night: more patient in the box without losing the speed, defense and power that had already made him a rare talent.
Padres third baseman Manny Machado said the growth had been building. “It has been great watching the year he put together,” Machado said. “Forty-forty, carrying that club. You saw flashes over the last couple years of what he could do, and this year he brought it to another level.”
Cubs manager Craig Counsell did not forget the rougher stretches that came before the breakout. “There were times when he was not a good hitter, and he would tell you that,” Counsell said. “That is part of what makes this remarkable. It reminds you not to put limits on players like this. Some gifted players seem to need somebody to tell them they cannot do something.”
For Crow-Armstrong, the regular-season résumé is complete, but the next version of the season starts in the same San Diego ballpark where he found a foothold in April. “I’m proud of what I did in the regular season,” he said. “I’m proud that I helped put us in this spot and that we have new life in October.”
