EmailPrintOpen Extended ReactionsAs fast as Chicago Cubs star Pete Crow-Armstrong is, on the bases or in center field, he couldn't avoid the champagne shower he received moments after his team clinched a playoff berth at Wrigley Field. It came about three hours after the 24-year-old made history, stealing his 40th base to become just the seventh player to hit 40 home runs and steal 40 bases in a single MLB season.His eye-popping, off-the-charts 2026 campaign is likely to earn Crow-Armstrong his first National League MVP Award, but with each home run, stolen base and highlight-reel play in the field, the young star has receded even more into the concept of team-first culture. While everyone was watching him, he was watching his teammates."That's how I've framed everything this year," Crow-Armstrong said. "If I [stole] the right base, it was going to help the team. I'm so lucky for that realization and that approach to the game."Crow-Armstrong's focus on his team, rather than talking about himself, has left others to take up the conversation about the affable young player. Those around him are happy to oblige, and that's because he provides the ultimate value to a team that finally crossed the finish line: The Cubs are into the playoffs, thanks mostly to the production of PCA."It's about as raw and straightforward as it gets," Cubs shortstop Dansby Swanson said. "With him and without him, what would we be?"On the very first day of spring training, Crow-Armstrong laid out his goals for the season. He simply wanted to get on base more while reducing his chase rate -- and so just days before joining Team USA for the World Baseball Classic, he was hard at work making changes."What I'm not so proud of is the .280 on-base percentage and the 55% swing rate," Crow-Armstrong said in February. "I know I can be better."It's the understatement of the year, as the 24-year-old blew past those goals, improving his on-base percentage by nearly 100 points while dropping his chase rate by eight percentage points. The new approach led to seeing more strikes -- which meant more good pitches to hit.The results have been staggering: Crow-Armstrong has gone from a 35-1 long shot entering the season to the runaway favorite for his first NL MVP.PCA leads the NL in home runs, runs scored, games played and fWAR. And he joined the coveted 40/40 club on Thursday afternoon. "It's the best position-player season I've ever seen," Cubs president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer said. "He's going to win the MVP. He's going to win the Hank Aaron Award. He's going to win the Platinum Glove."While his walk rate spike has drawn more attention, there is another area of Crow-Armstrong's offensive evolution that has been equally important to his MVP turn: his performance against left-handed pitching.After finishing 2025 with a meager .188/.217/.376 slash line in 188 at-bats against lefties, he has posted a .282/.378/.513 mark this season. It is just the fourth time this decade a left-handed hitter has improved his performance against left-handed pitching by TK OPS points."In years past, lefties could get him," Cincinnati Reds catcher Tyler Stephenson said. "But the best lefties hit lefties as good as righties. You can throw his name in there. You make mistakes as a lefty and he'll capitalize. With him, you try to limit the mistakes because he's not going to miss them."The improvement has changed how opposing managers game-plan for facing the Cubs. No longer can they just bring in a lefty and expect an easy out."A team brings in a pitcher to beat you and to expose supposedly a weakness," Cubs second baseman Nico Hoerner said. "And whether he was able to have a big swing or just take a walk against some of the tougher lefty bullpen guys, that was really impressive to me. That's when I knew we were seeing something special."It also allowed Counsell to unleash Crow-Armstrong in an even more dangerous role this season as his full-time leadoff hitter.Crow-Armstrong is hitting .303 with 38 home runs and 83 RBIs while batting leadoff this year, as his newfound plate discipline combined with his emerging power has given the opposing pitcher an "uncomfortable" start to the game, according to Counsell. And learning to handle even the best left-handed pitching that teams could throw at him meant having Crow-Armstrong at the top of the lineup would no longer come back to haunt the Cubs later in the game."When you put challenges in front of really talented players, it can be a good thing for them," Counsell said. "He's making it look a lot easier than it is."Crow-Armstrong's ability to pair that now-complete offensive skill set with game-changing defense is what separates his MVP season from even the best in recent history.New teammate Clay Holmes knows a thing or two about good individual seasons, having been around Aaron Judge with the New York Yankees from 2021-24 and Juan Soto during his time with the Yankees and again with the New York Mets before being traded to the Cubs at the deadline. But neither of those players played elite defense at a premium position."It's pretty special," Holmes said. "When you see a season like this, you know you're witnessing something special. You can feel it, you can see it."He's doing things at the plate and in the field that is obviously way better than everybody else."Playing in front of Crow-Armstrong in the field as Chicago's shortstop this season, Swanson has felt a "fear" among opposing hitters knowing any well-hit ball would likely end up in the center fielder's glove rather than going for extra bases in the gap. It's where "hits go to die," in the words of one opposing scout.Even a longtime star on the Cubs' biggest rival couldn't help but rave about what he has seen from Crow-Armstrong this season."He's probably the best defender in the game right now, and it'd be hard to find another hitter that's going as good as he is," Milwaukee Brewers DH Christian Yelich said. "He's had a great year and a special year for him."Asked if he sees some similarities between Crow-Armstrong this year and his own 2018 MVP season, Yelich said with a smile:"Yes, without the defense. That's what makes him really, really special -- is being able to combine the two."For all the eye-popping numbers and defensive superlatives, perhaps most impressive to his teammates is that in a sport filled with challenges, even the normal roadblocks like slumps and injuries haven't applied to the Cubs star this season. He has stayed healthy, played every day and quickly rebounded from every dip in production."There's maybe a couple days or a series where things haven't gone right and I feel like it's so easy to allow a couple days to roll into a couple weeks or even a month," Swanson said. "And then for him to kind of nip in the bud after a day or two days or at max three days is pretty remarkable."That consistent performance has given the Cubs a rock to rely on in a season filled with slumps and injuries to other hitters and a plethora of question marks on the mound."I'm part of something bigger than me," Crow-Armstrong said. "If I have any goals, it's being out there every day and being available every day."Having the most valuable player in the league on their side day after day is the primary reason the Cubs are celebrating a postseason bid this week and gearing up for what they hope is a long October run ahead."What's on his plate as a player on a day-to-day basis is as high as anyone except for maybe a catcher, and they don't play every day," Hoerner said."He's an MVP candidate with 20 homers."
