Rival scouts think Cubs may have a Jackson Holliday dilemma on their hands

The Chicago Cubs' season has been largely disappointing to date. Craig Counsell reset the market for MLB coaches last winter, signing the largest managerial contract in MLB history. After months of tiptoeing around each other, Jed Hoyer and Cody Bellinger eventually agreed to terms on an extension. The Shota Imanaga signing was huge. The Cubs were supposed to be good.

And yet, here we are. With a little more than a month until the trade deadline, Chicago is second-to-last in the NL Central. That's worse than it sounds, maybe. The Cubs are only two games behind second-place St. Louis, and seven games behind first-place Milwaukee. That's not an insurmountable hole, but it does raise alarm bells.

The NL Central is one of the league's most impressively mediocre divisions. Aside from the Brewers up top, the entire divison appears to be trading games and gunning for that elusive third Wild Card spot. The National League as a whole has been on a bit of a downslide this season, but that shouldn't absolve Chicago of its shortcomings. The Cubs can't use the failure of others to hide from their very clear weaknesses.

One evident area of need is offense. Pete Crow-Armstrong, the Cubs' No. 1 prospect, was called up on April 24 to replace an IL-bound Cody Bellinger in centerfield. In theory, PCA was supposed to buoy Chicago's offense in a time of need. His AAA numbers were impressive — .255/.299/.509 with five home runs in 110 AB — and he has long been touted as the future of Cubs baseball.

Well, the super-early returns on the 22-year-old haven't been great. Some scouts around the league are starting to echo concerns that sound eerily similar to the Jackson Holliday situation with the Baltimore Orioles.

From Bob Nightengale's latest report for USA Today:

"MLB scouts have insisted all season that Chicago Cubs prospect Pete Crow-Armstrong may not be the impact bat that’s been hyped, and so far they’ve been proved correct. He’s hitting .200 with a .570 OPS."

Cubs' Pete Crow-Armstrong continues to struggle at plate

Jackson Holliday, the Orioles' No. 1 prospect (and baseball's No. 1 prospect) was called up early in the season, only to struggle tremendously before a swift demotion to AAA. That's not terribly shocking for a 20-year-old, but it does reset the expectations a bit for Holliday's development. He has been hailed as league-ready for a while. What happens now that we know he's not?

The short answer is, not much. The O's are just fine without Holliday, stocked with a ton of budding prospects and the MLB's most explosive young core. It's hard to lose sleep over Holliday's slower-than-expected career arc when Gunnar Henderson is rocketing moonshots into the upper deck.

The situation with PCA in Chicago is a bit different. The Cubs aren't so well-stocked on the offensive end, especially with Bellinger struggling to reach last season's heights. Crow-Armstrong is also two years Holliday's senior. He is performing much better than Holliday, to be fair, but he's still well below replacement-level for his position. At least at the plate.

It would be irresponsible to discuss Crow-Armstrong like he's a DH. The speedster is a menace on the base paths and he's one of the best defensive outfielders in the sport. That alone has kept him in the positive value zone (0.7 WAR) despite his woes in the batter's box. But, as we've learned with the likes of Johan Rojas in Philadelphia, contenders need production at the plate and effectiveness in the field. It's hard to imagine the Cubs reaching their ceiling if PCA is hemorrhaging at-bats in the postseason.

It's far too early to panic. Most prospects don't sniff the big league at 22, so Crow-Armstrong is being tested early. That should benefit him in the long run. He's being treated like an elite prospect because he is one. Expectations are hightened for the truly great young talents.

But, right now, it's hard not to describe PCA's first extended period in Chicago as a minor disappointment — much like the team around him. Whether it's fair or not, the Cubs need more. We will see if Crow-Armstrong can right the ship and deliver.