CHICAGO -- Pete Crow-Armstrong and Alex Bregman formed one of baseball’s most dynamic duos down the stretch last season. While Crow-Armstrong was piecing together a campaign worthy of all the National League MVP chatter, Bregman authored an incredible second-half surge to help power the Cubs’ lineup.
And while much of the spotlight was on what Chicago’s one-two punch did in the batter’s box, Crow-Armstrong and Bregman also turned in elite-level defense, as well. That part of their collective game was recognized on Sunday with a second career Rawlings Gold Glove Award apiece for Crow-Armstrong in center field and Bregman at third base.
Crow-Armstrong set the tone for the Cubs’ stalwart defense in 2026.
“The standard he’s set defensively is really incredible,” Cubs president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer said at the end of the season. “That allows us to build the kind of team we want to build around defense.”
The Cubs led the Majors and set single-season Statcast-era records by posting a +72 fielding run value and recording +72 outs above average as a team last season. Beyond Crow-Armstrong and Bregman, Dansby Swanson (shortstop), Seiya Suzuki (right field) and Ian Happ (left) were also Gold Glove finalists. Nico Hoerner -- a two-time Gold Glove Award winner at second -- might have joined them, if not for manning short while Swanson missed time across August and September.
Crow-Armstrong also won a Gold Glove in 2025, putting him alongside Happ (‘22-25), Jason Heyward (‘16-17) and Andre Dawson (‘87-88) as the only Cubs outfielders to win at least two of the awards. Cubs center fielder Bob Dernier also picked up a Gold Glove in 1984. As for Bregman, he joins Hall of Famer Ron Santo (1964-68) as the only third basemen to win a Gold Glove for the franchise.
After the All-Star break, Crow-Armstrong led the Majors with 4.7 wins above replacement (via FanGraphs), with Bregman right behind him at 3.7 (tied for second overall in that span). Much of that was driven by their respective offensive showings, but the defense also contributed to boosting those numbers.
Crow-Armstrong became only the seventh player in MLB history to have at least 40 homers and 40 stolen bases in a season, but the center fielder also recorded an MLB-leading +26 fielding run value. That is the highest mark on record in one year for an outfielder (Statcast data for FRV goes back to 2016). Byron Buxton (‘17) and Adam Eaton (‘16) were previously tied for the record with +24.
“The focus will be on being 40-40 and those things,” Hoyer said. “The thing that gives me so much comfort is, I know offense can go up and down at times, but what we have defensively in him is so terrific. The up-the-middle defense that we have is really kind of the backbone of this team, and he’s the biggest part of that. He does give a level of stability and comfort.”
Crow-Armstrong also led all MLB position players in outs above average (+26), which tied Buxton’s 2017 mark for the most by an outfielder since Statcast has been tracking that statistic. This season, the Cubs center fielder also overtook Kevin Kiermaier for the most 5-star catches (0-25% catch probability) in a career. Crow-Armstrong is up to 34 with a 50.7% success rate, while Kiermaier had 32 in his career with a 27.6% success rate.
Bregman, who previously won a Gold Glove in 2024 with the Astros, will admit that he got off to a rocky start defensively this season with the North Siders. The third baseman noted that Major League coach Jonathan Mota -- who dedicates his pregame hours to working closely with the infielders -- helped him clean up some things to get back on track.
By the end of the season, Bregman had a +7 fielding run value, which was tied with Manny Machado and Joey Ortiz for the best mark at third base in MLB. Bregman also registered +9 outs above average (second among MLB third basemen) and +15 defensive runs saved (tied for first).
“I take a ton of pride in that,” Bregman said of his defense in September. “Minus maybe the first week or so, I feel like I’ve been one of the elite defenders in all of baseball. And I feel like we’ve got a team of elite defenders. I feel really good on that side of the ball, as well.”