3CA! Cubs superstar adds 1st career 3-HR game to MVP resume

CHICAGO -- The Cubs have a long history of players who have elevated their play to the level of being a showman. Look no further than Slammin’ Sammy Sosa, who stepped onto the field Saturday to rousing cheers from fans who either remember his power exploits or have shared stories for a younger generation.

Pete Crow-Armstrong is currently authoring a season that will rank right up there with some of the great individual campaigns compiled over the ballclub’s 150 years. And with Sosa and a list of heavy hitters from Cubs history at Wrigley Field, Crow-Armstrong launched three home runs, including two in his first two trips to the plate in a 17-5 win against the Reds.

Crow-Armstrong led off the first inning by sending a fastball from lefty Andrew Abbott into the bleachers in right-center field to rev up the Wrigley faithful. One inning later, Crow-Armstrong went yard again -- this time ripping a curveball from Abbott off the pole down the right-field line for a two-run blast.

It was an electric opening act for Crow-Armstrong as he continues to plant his flag as a legitimate MVP candidate in the National League. And the timing of his latest heroics added another later to the debate.

Not long before the Cubs took the field, news broke out of Los Angeles that two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani had a setback after throwing a bullpen session on Friday. Ohtani -- winner of the last two NL MVP trophies and a four-time MVP overall -- has been trying to build back up as a pitcher following a left knee issue, but has again hit a snag.

If Ohtani is unable to build on his incredible pitching performance earlier in the season -- when he spun a 1.79 ERA in 14 starts -- that opens the door for Crow-Armstrong to keep building his case to unseat the Dodgers star as the MVP. Entering play on Saturday, Crow-Armstrong paced the Majors with 8.6 WAR (per FanGraphs), with Ohtani second at 6.9 (4.0 offensive WAR and 2.9 pitching WAR).

Crow-Armstrong added a single in the fourth inning and then clinched his first career three-homer game with a three-run shot to left-center off Tony Santillan in the seventh inning. That also gave Crow-Armstrong his fifth game with at least 10 total bases this year. He is tied with Larry Walker (1997), Johnny Mize (1940) and Jimmie Foxx (1933) for the second-most such games since at least 1900. Nelson Cruz holds that record with six in 2019.

Crow-Armstrong now has nine career games with at least 10 total bases, which is two more games of that kind before any other player before turning 25 years old (since at least 1900). The Cubs’ all-time leaderboard for games with 10-plus total bases includes Billy Williams (12), Sosa (12), Hank Sauer (10) and Ernie Banks (10).

Crow-Armstrong had a chance at a fourth home run in the eighth inning, when the Reds sent catcher Jose Trevino to the mound with the game out of reach. The center fielder grounded out to second base, but received a standing ovation from the home crowd. As Crow-Armstrong walked back to the home dugout, he raised his helmet in appreciation.

While Ohtani boasts the ability to pitch and do so at a high level -- making him a unicorn in modern baseball -- Crow-Armstrong generates a lot of his value from his defensive prowess in center field. Entering Saturday, Crow-Armstrong led baseball in Fielding Run Value (24), ranked second overall in Outs Above Average (23) and earlier this season set the career mark for five-star catches in the Statcast Era (2015).

Crow-Armstrong’s first homer on Saturday marked his eighth leadoff shot this season, moving the center fielder into a tie with Rick Monday (1976) for the second-most in one year for a Cubs hitter. Alfonso Soriano boasts the Cubs’ single-season record of 12 leadoff homers in 2007, and was in the house on Saturday as well as part of Chicago’s 150th anniversary celebration.

When Crow-Armstrong went deep again in the second inning, it gave the center fielder five multi-homer games this season for the North Siders. His third blast ran his season total up to 36 homers to go along with his 32 stolen bases. Crow-Armstrong (2025 and ‘26) is already the only Cubs player besides Sosa (1993 and ‘95) to have a 30-30 season, and the first to do so in consecutive years.

Finishing with the Cubs’ first-ever 40-40 tour is not unrealistic. In fact, there have only been six seasons in MLB history in which a batter reached at least 40 homers and 40 steals. Ohtani is the most recent to do so in his otherworldly 50-50 performance in 2024 en route to his first MVP with the Dodgers.

As Crow-Armstrong headed around the bases after his second and third homers, the Wrigley Field crowd fittingly erupted in chants of, “M-V-P! M-V-P!” That had to feel familiar for Sosa, who took home the award in the National League in 1998 after his memorable battle with Mark McGwire for the single-season home run record.

The Cubs will flip the calendar to September in a few days, entering into the home stretch both for postseason positioning and Crow-Armstrong’s final push in this fascinating MVP debate.