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Cubs' Pete Crow-Armstrong 'lit the world on fire' as Chicago tops NL standings
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- Cubs' Pete Crow-Armstrong 'lit the world on fire' as Chicago tops NL standings
WASHINGTON – This is a Chicago Cubs team like no other.
There's no curse to bust, and besides, it's been nearly a decade since the star-studded 2016 edition captured the franchise's first World Series since 1908. Nor are there glaring holes ranging from laughable to mystifying, as so many Cub clubs before '16 embodied the former, and the oft penny-pinching editions since featured the latter.
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No, the team with the best record in the National League is, by both design and happenstance, solid and spectacular. Solid, as in it does many of the obscure yet crucial things so well, such as catching the ball, running the bases, making contact and limiting damage.
As for the spectacular? That's what Pete Crow-Armstrong provides.
The most valuable player in the National League, by whichever flavor of WAR you prefer , has won games – stolen them, at times – with every one of baseball's five tools, sometimes in stunning succession.
Pete Crow-Armstrong rounds the bases after a home run against the Nationals.
The Cubs left Washington late Thursday night for Detroit , with a series win in hand and a PCA play of the day for every Cubbie diehard that came out to Nationals Park. One night, it was not his speed but rather the threat of it that froze a Washington defender and resulted in a game-changing misplay as he danced off third.
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The next, it was a gap-to-gap sprint and crash into the left field wall to haul in a fly ball and keep intact a perfect game by lefty starter Matthew Boyd . And Thursday, it was simply turning on a hanging curveball and drilling it 412 feet over the center field wall for a first-inning, two-run home run that sent the Cubs victoriously on their way out of town.
With his ability to apply a dash of slug or a drop of speed right when the Cubs need it, Crow-Armstrong is as much an artist on the field as his parents – both successful actors – are in their work. And in the context of his ballclub, Crow-Armstrong is part of a breathtaking mosaic the Cubs, now 39-23, have commissioned.
"It's funny because you hear it all the time: 'This team plays the game the right way.' So many times, people have a hard time being able to define what that means," Dansby Swanson , now in his third year as the Cubs' shortstop, tells USA TODAY Sports. "I feel like we just have a lot of good baseball players.
"And when you put a lot of good baseball players on a team together that have a hunger and drive to do things for more than themselves, it leads to good team baseball. Everyone's accountable for themselves. Guys are accountable with one another. We have good relationships with each other. We hang out together, do things together, really cherish being in this room together.
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"All those things, put into one, turn out to truly lead to good results on the field."
It's a club that is by turns sexy and workmanlike. Acquiring slugger Kyle Tucker – who can become a free agent after this season – in a blockbuster deal with the Houston Astros gave the Cubs one of the top five all-around players in the game, and his slugging ability has both lengthened the lineup and relieved the burden on those hitting around him.
As the season creeps toward the halfway point, Crow-Armstrong's 16 homers and 21 steals put him on track for a 40-40 season. And any feat of athleticism – from a guy whose speed ranks in the 97thpercentile of the majors - can inspire Cubs faithful to send a "P-C-A!" chant echoing through Wrigleyville.
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Yet almost every other facet is simply part of a well-rounded hardball diet.
They rank third in the majors in stolen bases and second with an 84.4% success rate; they're also third in the NL in bases taken – or, advancing on grounders, fly balls and balls in the dirt.
Crow-Armstrong and second baseman Nico Hoerner rank first and second, respectively, at their positions in Outs Above Average; left fielder Ian Happ , Swanson, Tucker and Hoerner boast seven career Gold Gloves among them.
And in what can only be described as sleight of hand in this modern hitting environment, the Cubs rank fourth in the majors with a .443 slugging percentage – yet just 22ndin strikeouts, getting to significant punch without the punchouts.
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It's a gently suffocating style of baseball, where an extra ball in play creates an extra out, an extra base taken produces another run, and then somebody runs into one and sends it over the ivy.
"We do all the major things well," says Justin Turner , the Cubs' 40-year-old designated hitter and veteran of nine playoff teams in Los Angeles , "but the little intangibles are, I think, even more off the charts. It's elite defense, especially up the middle. It's one of the best baserunning teams I've been on, as far as stealing bases, taking extra bases, putting pressure on the defense.
"And I feel like the offense is one of the more dynamic ones I've been a part of – whether that's hitting homers, playing small ball, situational hitting, stealing bases. It doesn't mean it's gonna happen every night. But it's a very well-rounded club."
Yet win or lose, the Cubs can count on something spectacular happening from No. 4.
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'He's gonna be the next big thing'
Crow-Armstrong cuts a unique figure among the finely-tuned behemoths populating a big league clubhouse. Listed at 6 feet and 184 pounds, his frame doesn't suggest a 40-homer guy will soon emerge.
Clad in a ski cap, sweatpants and a shin protector even as the pregame temperature nudges north of 80 degrees, he looks more the SoCal native headed to the skate park rather than the indoor batting cage.
Yet something happens when he hits the diamond.
"Everybody kind of knew, 'Oh, it's Pete, he's gonna be the next big thing.' And now you see it coming to fruition," says Cubs rookie right-hander Cade Horton, who frequently crossed paths with Crow-Armstrong on the youth showcase circuit in high school. "He's just the ultimate competitor and has all the tools.
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"It was a combination of the athletic ability and his fiery competitiveness. When you put those two things together, it's a recipe for something good. Just watching him compete was really, really special."
Success did not come overnight. The New York Mets drafted him 19thoverall in 2020, then flipped him for Javy Baez. At 21, he made a 13-game debut in 2023, then produced just a .237 average and .286 OBP in 123 games last season.
But defense will always keep you up. Crow-Armstrong produced 2.3 WAR last season despite his offensive struggles. And then, sometimes it all comes together.
"I think we unfairly put things on players at a young age nowadays, whether it's just hype, the affinity for prospects and what's next and what's new, and it heightens expectations at a young age," says Swanson. "The coolest thing is, usually in that third taste, that third year, you expect guys to really kind of come into their own and he's obviously done that. I'm not surprised by anything he does.
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"He's a phenomenally gifted talent, he's super competitive, he's very passionate, very, in a good way, hard on himself about wanting to be great at this game. Asks the right questions.
"I say this with a smirk on my face: Everything he does I expect him to do. I always believed in his ability and I'll never let him settle for anything less than that. He's lit the world on fire."
And Pete feats can emerge when you least expect them.
Tuesday night, the Cubs fell in a 3-1 hole by the fourth inning when Crow-Armstrong led off with a hustle double to right field and promptly stole third base.
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The next ball was chopped to third and Armstrong danced off about 20 feet, prompting third baseman Jose Tena to look him back to third.
Yet Armstrong didn't budge. Tena ran toward him. Everybody's safe.
A single and a sacrifice fly later, the game was tied and an inning later, firmly in hand for the Cubs.
"His speed is something everybody on the field knows about it. You have to respect it. And speed causes mistakes," says manager Craig Counsell.
For Armstrong, the exploits come with a firmer base, literally and figuratively. He credits his power surge to using the ground better, as he says, to exploit his lower half. And he entered spring convicted, secure in his job, and that's made all the difference.
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"I just came in with a lot more comfort and confidence in myself, really, but I think the coolest part about that is what's been asked of me hasn't really changed," says Crow-Armstrong. "No one's asked me to hit the homers and do all this stuff. But the freedom I've been granted, the space to go play every day, I think that's why we're seeing that.
"My goal, and my job and what is asked of me is still just to go play a good center field."
'How could you not want that?'
And yet the Cubs have received so much more.
But their current heater – they're now a majors-best 17-6 since May 10 – is so much about everybody doing their part.
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With All-Star lefty Shota Imanaga sidelined by a hamstring injury at least a couple more weeks, the club has relied on Horton's emergence, Jameson Taillon 's veteran steadiness and the signing of Drew Pomeranz to largely serve as an opener to shore up the rotation. The bullpen has posted a 0.74 ERA over its past 19 games.
And the holdovers, Happ and Hoerner, now have a powerful core to illuminate their contributions, such as Hoerner's absurd 18 strikeouts in 247 plate appearances, a 7.3% strikeout percentage that ranks in the 99thpercentile.
The lineup all coalesces around Tucker, who has lived up to the billing with a .917 OPS. As for 2026, not much needs to be said in the clubhouse about whether the lads want to see Tucker's name on a nine-figure contract with the Cubs.
"I think it kind of speaks for itself, right? We all know what he brings to this team," says Swanson, who calls Tucker "an aircraft carrier of a guy in the lineup.
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"He's so good. How could you not want that?"
That's a problem for, most likely, the winter. For now, the Cubs are off to Detroit and a date with the American League-best Tigers and a possible preview of, well, let's not get ahead of ourselves.
Bigger things could be ahead, especially for a club so skilled in taking care of the littler ones.
"The culmination of all those things has consistently led to where we're at now," says Swanson, "and it's been fun to be a part of."
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Cubs' Pete Crow-Armstrong 'lit the world on fire' atop NL standings
