Pete Crow-Armstrong doesn't step to the plate to "take pitches." He steps to the plate to swing the bat and mash taters and slug extra base hits and steal bases and be cool as hell. For the most part, that strategy has worked well as PCA has posted the second-best WAR in baseball (6.0) and is cruising to a 30-30 season.
But recently, we're seeing the downside of Crow-Armstrong's freewheeling, super-aggressive plate approach. In August, he's 3 for 33 with zero home runs, zero walks and 13 strikeouts. That's about as bad as it gets — and this slump has lowered his OPS to a season-low .822. Still very good of course, but he looks nothing like the guy who started the year right now. His first percentile chase rate, third percentile walk rate and 19th percentile whiff rate are all coming together in the worst way possible to create some ugly at-bats. His on-base percentage of .296 is ninth on the Cubs, and it brings to mind the quote that manager Craig Counsell said in the offseason. From The Athletic:
"Best offensive players hit the most. That’s kind of always going to be the original thought. I think Pete could get there. Pete is a developing baseball player and we still want to get that right. There’s no lineup decisions made. But, frankly, gut says no Pete at the top to start the year.”
It's interesting to see how that quote has aged; on the one hand, PCA has "gotten there," and looked like an MVP candidate throughout most of the season. On the other hand, he's so aggressive to the point of his own detriment, that Counsell was clearly onto something about him still being a developing baseball player. He's 23 years old, after all.
Any reason to panic about Pete Crow-Armstrong?
Panic? No. Pay closer attention to? Definitely. As PCA's plate appearances in MLB start to stack up, there's more and more data on what he's elite at and what he struggles at. We know by now, of course, that he struggles to lay off pitches and will chase balls not even close to the strike zone.
Now, the next step in his development is to realize that other teams know this about him and adjust accordingly. PCA is such an all-or-nothing type player, and when he gets it all, well, it's awesome! But finding ways to produce and help the Cubs even when the slugging isn't there is how he can avoid stumbles like this in the future.
The Cubs have already gotten much, much more than they expected out of PCA in 2025. If he can shake off the first real slump of his career and get back to pre-All Star PCA, this will all be forgotten quickly.