Pete Crow-Armstrong — with ‘more to prove’ — is eager to help Chicago Cubs start the postseason strong
SAN DIEGO — Pete Crow-Armstrong’s early season had not been trending in the right direction when the Chicago Cubs ended their first West Coast trip of the year at Petco Park in late April.
At that point, Crow-Armstrong had slugged only one home run in his first 119 plate appearances spanning 29 games. After another 0-fer in the Cubs’ series opener at the Padres, his frustrations bubbled over during pregame batting practice the next day. He ripped off his batting gloves and threw them at the garbage can as he fumed into the clubhouse.
That was the beginning of Crow-Armstrong’s turnaround into an MVP season.
He slugged a three-run home run off Padres lefty Wandy Peralta on April 28 and followed with another home run, this one a two-run shot against right-hander Matt Waldron, the next night. It was the early iteration of what Crow-Armstrong grew into during the ensuing weeks. After that second game in San Diego, he posted a .288/.386/.624 slash line and 1.009 OPS the rest of the way.
“It could have been easy to let the year get away from me, but day in and day out I think there was just a regular reminder that it’s a long season,” Crow-Armstrong said Monday, thinking back to that Padres series. “When you’re in April and May and you have already played two weeks to a month’s worth of games, it feels like a long time has passed, but at the same time, you look up at how many games you have left, and that was kind of my daily reminder that I had a lot of time to turn it around.
“I mean, we were playing really good baseball as a team at that point as well, so kind of easy to show up and get ready to try and improve and help the team whether they don’t need much of it to start with. I mean, I’m proud of the year that I had in the regular season, and I’m proud that I could help us get to a position like this and be able to have new life in October.”
The Cubs fell short of their goal to host the best-of-three wild-card series at Wrigley Field, instead getting a rematch against the Padres on the road. The Cubs are relying on left-hander Matthew Boyd to again take control in Game 1 as he did last year, and they will need more from the offense than what they saw in less-than-ideal weather conditions over the final week of the regular season.
It starts with Crow-Armstrong at the top of the lineup.
His first postseason in 2025 didn’t play out offensively as he hoped on the heels of a tough second-half performance. He finished 5-for-27 with no extra-base hits in his eight playoff games last year, with three of those hits coming in the decisive Game 3 of the wild-card series. This postseason brings different expectations for the presumed National League MVP, though Crow-Armstrong said he’s treating the playoffs as a clean slate.
“I think I’ve got some more to prove and I’ve got some more production to give this club, but it’s a new year,” Crow-Armstrong said. “I guess it’s a relatively similar team and bullpen and all that, but it’s the same game, but new baseball to be played.
“I’m fortunate and lucky to have a year of this under my belt already. I mean, it’s exciting to do it in a new place. This place is super fun to play in in the regular season, and it’s rocking and it’s a party. I’m just looking forward to Year 2 of playoff baseball.”
Padres third baseman Manny Machado understands what it takes to put together an MVP-caliber season, with four top-5 finishes in his career. Although he hasn’t been able to watch Crow-Armstrong in person since the Padres finished their season series against the Cubs in June, Machado witnessed a version of the center fielder who was in the early stages of a sizzling stretch that catapulted the 24-year-old into being the NL MVP favorite.
“It’s been awesome, man, it’s been great to see the season he’s had, 40-40, putting that team on his back,” Machado said Monday. “I’d seen it coming. The last couple years, it’s been a little glimpse here and there of what he can do, and, obviously, he took his game to the next level. So to see him succeed like he has been, it’s great for the game. It’s good to see, and I couldn’t be more excited for a player like that. I mean, I’ve met him a few times. Humble kid, loves the game, so to see guys like that succeed at this level, it’s always awesome.”
Padres’ Game 1 starter Michael King expects Crow-Armstrong to provide a test in the leadoff spot with a focus on keeping him off the bases to set the tone. It’s a contrast to this point last year when Crow-Armstrong entered the playoffs riding a .216 average, .269 on-base percentage and .614 OPS over the final six weeks of the regular season, during which he hit only four home runs in his last 162 plate appearances (41 games).
“Let’s be honest, I mean, he’d tell you that he was a bad hitter at times last year, and so that is what kind of makes it a little bit remarkable,” manager Craig Counsell said. “I think we also all saw it last year. We saw the greatness, and we saw what he had the ability to do.
“Even guys with great talent can surprise you, and that’s what Pete did, and it was a joy to watch. It was something to behold watching him play baseball every day because it’s not just in the batter’s box, it’s everywhere on the field. I mean, he tagged up on a shallow fly ball to center field at Wrigley on Thursday afternoon — he’s doing high-level baseball things.”
Crow-Armstrong embraced the challenge to get better and, in doing so, became a catalyst for the best offense in baseball. The regular season no longer matters, though. The Cubs’ lofty goals start by taking care of the challenge in front of them.
“Anything can happen,” Crow-Armstrong said. “There’s elements of you don’t want to treat it like anything bigger than it is, but you also want to appreciate how cool and special this is. I’m looking forward to playing a really good ball club and getting another crack at them and starting these playoffs off on a high note.”
mmontemurro@chicagotribune.com