Pete Crow-Armstrong’s offensive struggles are becoming a real problem for the Cubs, and it’s not just a small sample size issue anymore.
Chicago sits at 12-9 but finds itself tied for last in the NL Central with Milwaukee. That’s how tight this division is shaping up to be in 2026. Every mistake matters more when you’re fighting for every game.
And right now, PCA’s bat is costing them.
The $115 million outfielder is hitting just .222 with one homer and a .585 OPS through the season’s first three weeks. Last year, he posted a .768 OPS with a 119 OPS+. This year? He’s down to 72 OPS+.
What makes this more concerning is the timing. As Tim Kelly of Bleacher Report pointed out, this isn’t exactly coming out of nowhere.
“It’s a particularly concerning start for Crow-Armstrong when you consider that after he started in the All-Star Game last summer, he hit just .216 with a .634 OPS in the second half of the season.”
So we’re looking at roughly eight months of subpar offensive production from a guy who’s supposed to be a key piece of this Cubs core.
The defense is still there – that’s what’s keeping him in the lineup. His glove in center field remains elite, which is why Chicago isn’t panicking yet. But the offensive regression from that first half of 2025 looks like it might be the new normal rather than a rough patch.
It’s not just the hitting either. Crow-Armstrong has stolen four bases but been caught three times, leading MLB in that category. For someone who’s supposed to bring speed and aggression on the basepaths, that’s a pretty concerning ratio.
Kelly doesn’t mince words about where this could be heading:
“Still, the Cubs have to worry that Crow-Armstrong isn’t going to ever sniff the offensive output that he posted during the first half of the 2025 season.”
That’s the fear, isn’t it? What if those three months of offensive production were the outlier, not what we’re seeing now?
The Cubs committed big money to Crow-Armstrong based on that breakout performance. If he can’t recapture that form – or at least get closer to it – that contract starts looking like a massive overpay pretty quickly.
There’s still plenty of time for him to turn things around. But with the NL Central this competitive, Chicago can’t afford to wait too long for their center fielder to rediscover his offensive game.
