Craig Counsell lets Pete Crow-Armstrong take the fall for him after Cubs loss

By his own admission, Chicago Cubs star outfielder Pete Crow-Armstrong "didn’t do a good job of playing the game of baseball today," as he told reporters (including MLB.com) after his team fell to the St. Louis Cardinals on Wednesday — a second straight loss to their arch rival that cut their lead in the NL Central down to just 2.5 games. And it's hard to argue: At the plate and in the field, PCA made the sorts of mistakes we're not used to seeing from him amid an MVP-caliber season.

First, there was the moment in the bottom of the fourth where he lost track of the number of outs after catching a fly ball, allowing Cardinals shortstop Masyn Winn to score all the way from second base.

Then, with runners on the corners and one out in the top of the seventh, PCA made the baffling decision to lay down a bunt — getting Seiya Suzuki over to second but failing to score Kyle Tucker from third and recording the second out of the inning. One batter later, Dansby Swanson flew out to end the threat.

Afterward, Crow-Armstrong drew most of the attention from media members and his own fan base. And to his credit, he stood and faced the music, explaining the thought process (or lack thereof) behidn his decisions and vowing to be better moving forward. With just how great he's been for Chicago so far this season, it should be easy for everyone to forgive and forget.

But PCA's mistakes were all too obvious, he's far from the only one who should take the blame for another frustrating loss. His manager, Craig Counsell, is probably all too happy to have someone else shield him from criticism over several questionable decisions that have cost Chicago of late.

For more news and rumors, check out MLB Insider Robert Murray’s work on The Baseball Insiders podcast, subscribe to The Moonshot, our weekly MLB newsletter, and join the discord to get the inside scoop during the MLB season.

Craig Counsell deserves as much if not more blame than Pete Crow-Armstrong for Cubs' recent struggles

It's tough to find too much fault in the job Counsell has done so far this season. After all, he has the Cubs in first place despite juggling several injuries to an already-thin pitching staff. But being MLB's highest-paid manager comes with heightened expectations and heightened scrutiny; that's what the money is for. And the fact is that Counsell isn't earning the entirety of that paycheck right now.

For starters, his lineup construction continues to confound. Swanson was only in position to end that rally in the seventh because Counsell insists on batting him fifth in the order, right behind Tucker, Suzuki and Crow-Armstrong. That is ... less than ideal, considering the shortstop is hitting just .221 /.244/.377 in the month of June, leaving a ton of runs on the board that Chicago's heart of the order has teed up for him.

Counsell's bullpen management also left something to be desired on Tuesday. Granted, he's a bit behind the 8-ball here, as Chicago doesn't have a ton of bullets to work with and Counsell can't afford to exhaust his staff in the middle of a four-game set. But it's still hard to say why he gave Jameson Taillon such a long leash, letting him wear eight runs over four innings of work, in a game that the Cubs needed to have after dropping the opener on Monday night.

This Cubs team has enough to think of itself as a legitimate World Series contender. But it's also not a perfect roster, at least not until Jed Hoyer patches some holes at the trade deadline. That means it's on Counsell to work his magic and show why Chicago wanted him so desperately a couple of years ago. Right now, his impact is mixed at best.