Pete Crow-Armstrong took a step forward in his 2nd stint with the Cubs

When Pete Crow-Armstrong first got called up last September, he struggled. There’s no denying that.

It was only 19 plate appearances in inconsistent playing time over the last few weeks of the year, of course. But at least offensively, the bat that had played in the minors didn’t quite look ready.

Despite Chicago Cubs president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer saying at the time the experience might “end up being the single best thing that could happen to him,” he still had to take the time to reflect on his first stint in the big leagues.

“I think it was having to recognize what needed to improve,” Crow-Armstrong said in a recent conversation with CHGO. “I think what I found was that less of that was a baseball thing and more so what goes on in my brain in terms of situations, preparation, whatever it is. And then just trying not to treat it like I needed to do anything different this offseason. If anything, I actually wish I started hitting a little later. I’m really starting to figure it out, and I think having time in between has been great. Gave me a little time to grow up, learn how to handle my shit.”

Crow-Armstrong’s start to the 2024 season with Iowa wasn’t what he wanted it to be. He hit .203 with a .633 OPS in 83 plate appearances over his first 19 games. He was striking out at a high rate, and he wasn’t walking very much.

He just hadn’t yet shown the kind of growth needed to break down the door to the big leagues. So, when Cody Bellinger joined Seiya Suzuki on the injured list a month ago, and the Cubs turned to Crow-Armstrong to fill in, it wasn’t necessarily because he’d earned it.

Manager Craig Counsell was pretty frank at that point about why he was called up: “Pete’s here because of injuries, right? When these guys get healthy, there’s probably not going to be a spot for him.” Even then, though he wasn’t playing his best in Triple-A, there was a sense of comfort for him in the fact that they gave him the shot anyway.

“I think, subconsciously, whatever frustrations I carried over from last year leaked into the play, and that became obvious,” Crow-Armstrong said. “Not something I’m proud of is how I started the year in Triple-A. But feeling like I didn’t deserve this quite as much as I feel like I wish I did, not feeling like that and then getting called on actually feels better, because that made me feel like they trust me enough.”

Crow-Armstrong was optioned back to Triple-A Iowa on Monday, bringing an end to his second stint with the Cubs. But this time around, the people in charge took notice of the real improvements he’s made, even if the results weren’t always there.

It started with a bang. On April 25, he stepped to the plate in the bottom of the sixth with a runner on base in a tie ballgame. He’d already struck out swinging in his first two at-bats. But just two pitches into his third, Crow-Armstrong launched a two-run home run — the eventual game-winning shot — into the right-field bleachers, finally recording the first-career hit that had previously eluded him.

Speaking to the media after that game, he described the feeling of getting that hit as “freeing.” It probably allowed him to relax a bit moving forward.

But like he showed by accepting a reduced role during the Cubs’ playoff push last year, or by saying all offseason how much he wanted the team to re-sign Bellinger — even if it meant less of an opportunity for him to impact the club early on — Crow-Armstrong is a team-first guy.

In reflecting on his first hit later on, he was more so happy that he came through when the team needed it.

“I wish I could say I didn’t need the hit to kind of open my eyes,” Crow-Armstrong said, “but it did in a sense, because at the end of the day, I played situational baseball if you break it down. Like, the homer is the homer, but I produced with a runner on base. That’s what I can look at and be like, ‘OK, good.’ Whether that was a ball in the gap, whether that was a bunt, whether that was a homer, a job was done.”

That’s essentially what Counsell’s message was to him a month ago: Come through when the team needs you to come through. The Cubs didn’t ask him to be the star. They just needed him to be himself, play well in his role and help them win.

“I don’t think I quite brought myself to a proper understanding of what I was here to do last year,” Crow-Armstrong said. “And I don’t think [former manager David Ross] did a bad job at laying it out for me. I just think that I felt some sort of impostor syndrome. It’s all stuff that I could control but I allowed to leak in, again, to what I bring into the field with me.

“Counse laying it out for me this year, it was a combination of how perfectly he did that, but also the way in which I see why I’m here now and having a better understanding of the role that I need to play and being willing to lay it all out on fucking defense, and the bat just kind of is along for the ride.”

Getting back to the improvements he displayed, most came on the offensive side.

Everyone already knew about his potential as an elite defender. He ultimately registered six defensive runs saved, which currently ranks fourth among center fielders. On Tuesday, Hoyer said Crow-Armstrong is “going to be a Gold Glove-quality center fielder,” noting what anybody watching could already see: He makes seemingly everything look so easy out there.

On offense is where he needed to show he was improving, and he overall looked much better than he did in September.

Most of Crow-Armstrong’s numbers across the board improved. He lowered his strikeout rate dramatically, and he made a lot more contact. And whereas he looked overmatched against major league fastballs last year, he took steps forward in adjusting to those pitches this time around (51.7 percent whiff rate in 2023 vs. 19.5 percent in 2024, per Statcast).

The results — .236 average, .659 OPS, 89 wRC+ — don’t scream “major league ready” now, but the Cubs were certainly happy with the strides he’s made.

“I think, offensively, he contributed,” Counsell said. “Can it be better? Do we want it to be better? Yes, but I think he contributed, and that’s a step in the right direction, for sure. I think he did a good job and situationally did enough that made him effective.”

“Compared to last year, I thought his ability to battle against major league pitching was much better,” Hoyer said. “He did make better decisions at the plate, and I think there’s a lot of real positive signs. I thought this stint looked nothing like last year, which is fantastic. I thought he looked like someone that has a chance to help us for a long time.”

It’s unclear for now when Crow-Armstrong will be up with the Cubs again.

Both Counsell and Hoyer agreed the best thing for him is consistent playing time and getting everyday at-bats. Counsell’s message to him on the way out was “to continue to get better,” and they’re hoping the time he’ll spend down in Triple-A will lead to that.

But the knowledge he gained up here over the last month should pay dividends for him, too. He’ll take that down to Iowa with him, and whenever he does come back up, the experiences from his second stint with the Cubs will only make him better.

“Selfishly, I am proud of myself,” Crow-Armstrong said. “I feel like I did it better this time, in the way I treated people here, in the way I treated myself and in the way that I approached the game. Selfishly, I’m proud of that. … I’m very grateful this time around for the trust that has been given to me by a ton of people that, at the end of the day, they didn’t have to. They could’ve called anybody up.

“I’m proud of the perspective that I’ve gained, and I’m excited to put to use what I’ve learned up here at whatever level I’m playing at.”

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