BALTIMORE – There are only so many adjectives available to describe the kind of run that Pete Crow-Armstrong has been on over the past several weeks. The achievements keep stacking up and there are still nearly three months left for the Cubs’ star center fielder to continue adding eye-popping feats.
Crow-Armstrong launched a pair of home runs to help the Cubs outslug the Orioles en route to a 9-7 win at Camden Yards on Wednesday night. In the process, he became only the third player in Cubs history to post a season with at least 20 homers and 20 stolen bases in back-to-back years.
“It’s still a very young career,” Cubs manager Craig Counsell said. “But he’s doing things that the greats in the game have done. They are small-timeframe accomplishments, but still great. And then, just the improvement that we’ve seen is so exciting for Cubs fans.”
Crow-Armstrong's second multi-homer showing of the season powered a five-homer outburst – Michael Conforto, Carson Kelly and Seiya Suzuki also cleared the fence – to help Chicago to its 18th win in 24 games.
Let’s break down the Crow-Armstrong’s latest feats in Wednesday’s win:
1. PCA’s sprint to another 20-20 tour
No one in Cubs history reached 20 homers and 20 steals faster than Crow-Armstrong a year ago, when he did so in just 73 games. In fact, he was tied for fourth on baseball’s all-time list for fastest to 20-20 in a single season.
It was increasingly inevitable that Crow-Armstrong would reach the milestone soon, and his moment arrived in the third inning Wednesday night.
When Crow-Armstrong’s first shot off Orioles righty Dean Kremer cleared Camden Yards’ tall right-field wall, it gave him an even 20 homers on the season to go with his 23 stolen bases. He joined Sammy Sosa (1993-95) and Ryne Sandberg (‘90-91) as the only Cubs hitters in history to achieve a 20-20 showing in consecutive years.
By doing so in his 92nd game this year, Crow-Armstrong now has the two fastest runs to 20-20 in Cubs history. The previous mark, which the center fielder beat last year, was 96 games by Sosa in ‘94.
Crow-Armstrong is the first player in the Major Leagues with at least 20 homers and 20 steals before the All-Star break in consecutive years since Alfonso Soriano did so with the Yankees in 2002-03. Per MLB.com’s Sarah Langs, Crow-Armstrong joins Soriano (‘02-03, ‘06), Jose Canseco (1988, ‘98) and Bobby Bonds (‘69, ‘73, ‘77) as the only players in MLB history to enjoy a 20-20 output before their team’s 95th game in multiple seasons.
Asked how he reacts to all the historic footnotes flying his way, Crow-Armstrong replied: “I don’t. I’ve got a lot more baseball to play.”
2. Attacking Kremer’s splitter
Kremer had Crow-Armstrong in an 0-2 count in the third inning and the Orioles’ righty opted for his splitter in the advantage count. It was a good pitch, too. The offering tumbled down and dropped below the strike zone, but the Cubs’ center fielder still managed to get his barrel to the ball.
“[Everyone in] the dugout, on the first home run,” Counsell said, “is kind of shaking their head in amazement at how he’s able to get to that pitch.”
Crow-Armstrong has a knack for pouncing on low pitches, but there was an added layer to this one.
Entering the night, Kremer had limited batters to a 2-for-27 showing with only two singles with his splitter. The Baltimore starter had not yielded a home run on the pitch since Aug. 23 of last season. Go figure, Crow-Armstrong launched it out to right for a homer. And then in the fifth, the Cubs center fielder connected on a 1-1 splitter that was low and away for another blast.
“That was a tough pitch for me to kind of time up,” Crow-Armstrong said. “He had gotten me on it three times before that, and twice in that at-bat. It’s just being willing to let the fastball really travel and give myself the best chance to put a barrel on that split.”
Per Statcast, that second shot came with a 106.7 mph exit velocity for Crow-Armstrong, who now has four homers off splitters this year. Heading into this season, the center fielder had hit .188 (9-for-48) with a .208 slugging percentage off split-finger fastballs in his career.
Crow-Armstrong also became just the fourth batter in the Statcast Era (since 2015) to go deep twice off splitters in the same game. Manny Machado was the last player to accomplish that niche feat on Sept. 21, 2021, against Kevin Gausman.
3. PCA’s latest hot streak
Crow-Armstrong turned in a historic June for the Cubs – winning the National League Player of the Month when the smoke cleared – but has kept his foot on the gas as his second trip to the All-Star Game approaches.
Specifically, Crow-Armstrong has been on a tear over his last eight games, following an 0-for-10 showing in a three-game road series against the Brewers.
"He's locked in," Counsell said.
With his latest performance, which included another walk that put his improved plate discipline on display, Crow-Armstrong has turned in a .464/.583/.929 slash line to go with four homers, one double, seven RBIs, nine runs, three steals and as many walks (six) as strikeouts (six) in 36 plate appearances.
“It feels like he’s on everything,” Cubs starter Colin Rea said. “To see his approach and to see how he’s matured in the box, it’s fun to watch.”