I write about sports for a living, and yet I'm running out of words to describe what Pete Crow-Armstrong is doing to start this season for the Chicago Cubs. Another home run in the team's win over the Colorado Rockies on Wednesday night gave him 15 on the year — and made him just the fifth player since 1920 to reach the 15/15 mark over his first 56 games. We knew about the athleticism and the defense; but the bat has exceeded everyone's wildest expectations, and it shows no signs of slowing down.
Not for lack of naysaying, though. Ever since PCA's offensive breakout began in earnest in the second half of last season, there have been skeptics predicting that it wouldn't last. And those skeptics all pointed to the same thing: Crow-Armstrong's uber-aggressive approach at the plate, with swing and chase rates that rank near the top of the entire league. If you're swinging that often, even at pitches well outside the strike zone, how long can it be before big-league pitchers adjust and take advantage?
But we're now a full two months into 2025, and that adjustment still hasn't come; or if it has, it hasn't mattered much. At this point, the broader baseball world might just need to accept the fact that PCA knows how to make his approach work — and his latest long ball shows exactly why a regression might not be around the corner after all.
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Pete Crow-Armstrong's one big weakness might not be a weakness after all
Go back and watch that clip again. Look at where the ball is when Crow-Armstrong makes contact: That's a big breaking ball that winds up almost down at his feet, and he's still able to not just get the bat to it but do serious damage.
This has become something of a theme with PCA this season. He's not just feasting on mistakes for his power; he's even getting the barrel on pitcher's pitches, proving that he's talented enough and has enough bat control to make his aggressive approach work for him. Sure, it might mean that his OBP is always a bit below other elite hitters in the game; but when it also produces a slugging percentage north of .550, you'll take that tradeoff every time.
Just ask his manager, Craig Counsell, who knows how rare Crow-Armstrong's talent is.
“It’s unique, the damage he can do below the strike zone," Counsell said Wednesday, per MLB.com. “But that’s the point — it’sdamage. It’s home runs. It’s extra-base hits. When he gets a ball that’s just below the strike zone, it’s a little bit of his go-zone. It’s his hot zone. That’s really unique.”
Obviously they're very different players, but there's a little bit of Vladimir Guerrero in PCA's game, at least in terms of his ability to make hard contact on pitches well off the plate. It would be great if he could refine his approach as he settles into life in the Majors. But even if he doesn't, he's showing that it doesn't matter how often you swing if you have a preternatural ability to square up even the ugliest of pitches.