Cubs dismal season has one result Craig Counsell can hang his hat on

The Chicago Cubs gave Craig Counsell a record-breaking contract to leave the Milwaukee Brewers and join their biggest rivals this past offseason, expecting to win. You'd think following a solid 2022 campaign and offseason additions like Shota Imanaga and Michael Busch on top of Counsell's arrival would have resulted in a postseason berth at the very least, but unfortunately, that almost certainly won't be the case.

At 77-73, Chicago enters Tuesday's action 5.0 games back of the third Wild Card spot in the NL with 12 games to go. Barring a miraculous run, the Cubs will miss the postseason for the fifth straight full season (excluding 2020).

Despite all that has gone wrong, there are bright spots. Imanaga looks like a legitimate ace. Busch looks like he'll have a spot for the foreseeable future. The biggest bright spot though, especially of late, has been the play of Pete Crow-Armstrong who is proving why he was considered their No. 1 prospect entering the year.

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Pete Crow-Armstrong's emergence has been a bright spot in a down year for the Cubs

The Cubs traded for the highly-touted Crow-Armstrong at the 2021 trade deadline expecting him to be a major contributor for them in the future. His .242/.292/.408 slash line with 10 home runs in 111 games isn't super exciting, but looking into his numbers lately shows why the Cubs are so thrilled.

Crow-Armstrong has always been known for his elite speed and defense in center field, but his bat has finally come along after a slow start, and he has been one of their best hitters down the stretch.

Since Aug. 1, a 40-game sample size, the 22-year-old leads Cubs qualified hitters with a 151 WRC+. To put into perspective how promising that is, he's tied for 16th in the majors with that 151 WRC+ in that time, ahead of players like Kyle Schwarber, Juan Soto, and Gunnar Henderson, to name a few. He is tied for eighth in fWAR in the majors in fWAR during that same span, ahead of players like Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Bryce Harper, and Jose Ramirez.

One-and-a-half months doesn't mean too much in the grand scheme of things, but it's roughly one quarter of a full season that Crow-Armstrong has been one of the very best all-around players in the majors.

Will he hit like this long-term? Almost certainly no, but he doesn't have to in order to be an elite player. If Crow-Armstrong is, say a 115-120 WRC+ bat in addition to his speed and defense, he'll be one of the best outfielders in the sport. That would be an awesome development for the Cubs. Obviously, they'd like to win at an elite level as a team, but having a player like Crow-Armstrong in the mix for the next half-decade or longer will go a long way.