Cubs lineup shake-up puts Pete Crow-Armstrong in spotlight

Pete Crow-Armstrong's performance at the plate has been one of, if not the biggest pleasant surprise of this young MLB season. Now. the Chicago Cubs are rewarding the young outfielder by bumping him up to the lead-off spot for Saturday's game against the New York Mets.

Ian Happ has been a fixture at the top of Chicago's lineup this season, but he's set to get a day off on Saturday, giving manager Craig Counsell the opportunity to see what Crow-Armstrong can do leading off.

It goes without saying that hitting in front of Kyle Tucker and Seiya Suzuki comes with great responsibility. Based on how he's been hitting this season, though, Counsell has reason to believe Crow-Armstrong can provide a spark just 24 hours after the team managed to score only two runs on five hits.

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Cubs give Pete Crow-Armstrong chance to be a catalyst in lineup shake-up

This is a huge opportunity for Crow-Armstrong. It might not be an audition to be leading off full-time with how great of a fit Happ is in that spot, but Counsell will get to see how the youngster will perform in a bigger role for the first time this season.

Crow-Armstrong has led off just once in his MLB career prior to Saturday, and it came on the final day of the 2023 campaign when the Cubs had nothing to play for. He hit in the lead-off spot before even recording his first MLB hit. This season, Crow-Armstrong had never hit higher than sixth in the order. He's making quite the jump to No. 1, and again, he deserves it.

So far this season, Crow-Armstrong is slashing .267/.308/.533 with nine home runs and 27 RBI in 39 games played. He might not be a perfect fit for the lead-off spot due to his high chase rate and lack of elite on-base ability, but his combination of speed and power at the top of the order has a chance to be lethal. Crow-Armstrong has always been known as an elite base runner and base stealer, but his added power this season has made him much tougher to pitch to, even with the high chase rate.

Cubs fans were originally looking forward to what projects to be Cade Horton's MLB debut on Saturday, and they should still be excited about that, but keeping an extra eye on how Crow-Armstrong does at the top of the order would be worth their while. He has the ability to steal any given game with his big bat and elite base running, and with the Cubs set to play against the team that drafted and traded him, Crow-Armstrong is going to have a chip on his shoulder.