Pete Crow-Armstrong Heating Up: Can Cubs Star Maintain Performance?

Cubs center fielder Pete Crow Armstrong isn't for everyone. He's had some high-profile bad moments. He wears his heart on his sleeve while playing and sometimes his emotions get the best of him. He mixed it up with a fan on the South Side of Chicago and was forced to apologize for his "choice of words." His misplays in center field frequently go viral. Most Cubs fans may love him, but plenty love to hate him.

They don't boo nobodies, though, right? PCA draws the criticism because he also draws the highlights.

Sure, there's very little help from his teammates right now, but as an all-around player, few in baseball have been as good as PCA this season.

Defense

On a play against the Brewers earlier this year, Crow-Armstrong charged a ground-ball single in an attempt to quickly pick it up and throw it home to cut down a runner. It's called a "do-or-die" play, because sometimes you "die." He whiffed it. Against the Dodgers , he leaped toward the wall and just missed it. He also lost a ball in the sun at home and watched the bases clear. The lowlight reels were stacking up.

But nearly every other play disputes the notion that he's bad.

His jump on the ball off the bat is unlike anyone else in baseball. Scouts rave about his first step from the instant there's contact. He rarely, if ever, takes a step in the wrong direction. That, paired with his speed, allows him to run down balls like this:

Old-school numbers show how much range he has, as PCA leads the majors in outfield putouts with 207 in 74 games. He dominates new-school metrics that measure range. He's at the 100th percentile in range among outfielders. In fielding run value, he leads the majors with 15 ( Bobby Witt Jr. is second with 12). He's also first in the majors in outfield catch probability and outfield jump. In outs above average, he's first among outfielders and second overall to Witt. He's tied for the MLB lead with Andy Pages in defensive WAR.

He has a strong arm, too, sitting at the 100th percentile in outfield arm strength.

The body of work says PCA is on the short list for the best defensive player in baseball, if not No. 1.

Baserunning

We know about the wheels. He's at the 95th percentile in sprint speed. He stole 35 bases in 43 tries last season and has gone 16 for 21 this year. If you dig deeper, he's third in bases taken (advancing on fly balls, passed balls, wild pitches, balks and defensive indifference) behind Witt and Kevin McGonigle . In FanGraphs' WAR, which includes a baserunning component, he ranks 22nd in the majors.

Even if we don't want to call him elite, he's a very good or even great baserunner.

Offense

After looking like an MVP contender through July last season, PCA fell apart down the stretch last year and followed that up with a terrible start this season. In 2024, he was good in the second half, not the first. It wasn't unreasonable to question if he could sustain his output levels for an entire year based on his record. This season, he made some changes to his swing and has worked on his grasp of the strike zone since. So far, it's working.

He knew the strike zone was a problem even when he was going well. "I swing a lot. I don't walk a lot at this point in my career," he told CBS Sports last year. "I'm definitely looking forward to the day I command the strike zone a little bit better than I do now."

The walk rate this season is up to 7.5%, an increase over a paltry 4.5% last year. His swing percentage is down to 51.9% from 59.5%. Much more importantly, his swing rate on pitches outside the zone has fallen from 41.4% to 37.7%. It's still too high, but there's marked improvement and he's still only 24 years old.

If you go back and look at his swing from the beginning of April versus right now, you can notice a difference. His hands are lower and he's shortened both his swing and his stride.

Watch how short he is through this low-and-in pitch:

Now compare that to his long swing coming from a position with higher hands -- this was back on April 15:

He's on all kinds of fire right now. In the last 16 games, he's hitting .435 with a .913 slugging percentage. That's a small sample and a player getting hot for three weeks means little in the grand scheme of things. How about long-term? In the last 58 games, PCA is hitting .298/.378/.567. The league-wide average slash line is .243/.319/.398, so we're talking about a hitter well above average at the plate while providing great baserunning and stellar defense.

In all, Crow-Armstrong this season is hitting .276/.348/.498 (141 OPS+, 136 wRC+) with 12 doubles, four triples, 14 home runs, 36 RBI and 44 runs. His "on-pace" numbers in the counting stats: 26 doubles, eight triples, 31 home runs, 79 RBI, 97 runs and 35 stolen bases.

The whole package

Crow-Armstrong is currently the only player in baseball on pace for a 30-30 season ( Oneil Cruz 's injury seemingly ruined his shot), an accomplishment he also pulled off last year. Only 18 players in MLB history have multiple 30-30 seasons. The only players to ever have two 30-30 seasons before their age-25 season? Witt, Julio Rodríguez and Ronald Acuña Jr.

In Baseball Reference WAR, PCA leads all position players at 4.3 (Witt is second at 4.1). He trails only  Shohei Ohtani and Cristopher Sánchez among all players. In FanGraphs' version, Crow-Armstrong is second among position players to Witt. He only trails Ohtani and Witt overall.

Is he perfect? Absolutely not. Just two nights ago, PCA hit for the cycle and then immediately got picked off while celebrating his single. The slopiness and the defensive miscues need to be cleaned up. He still needs to continue the improvement in dealing with the strike zone and, generally, gain more consistency on offense.

Given the age and improvement along with the results and monster ceiling, though, it sure seems like the trajectory could be a superstar.

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_Originally reported by [CBS Sports](https://www.cbssports.com/mlb/news/pete-crow-armstrong-cubs-superstar-potential/)._