Pete Crow-Armstrong had a very big August. The Chicago Cubs‘ star finished the month with 14 home runs, the most a player under the age of 24 has hit in a calendar month since Ken Griffey Jr. did it in May 1994 for the Seattle Mariners. Griffey finished that season with 40 home runs in 111 games. PCA now has 38 through 136 games this season.
Crow-Armstrong’s turnaround this season has been remarkable. In May, 50 games into the season, he was struggling so much at the plate that he was batting ninth in the lineup and was 11th on the Cubs in OPS. Three months later he second in all of Major League Baseball.
He’s second in baseball in home runs. Tied for second with seventh triples. Fifth in stolen bases. First in WAR. With a month remaining in the season he’s the front-runner for MVP. In ’94 Griffey finished second in MVP voting behind Frank Thomas. Griffey would win his one and only MVP in ’97.
MORE: Pete Crow-Armstrong pulls off what no Cubs player has done in 125 years
That’s how good PCA has been this summer. He’s doing things not accomplished since the early 20th century and MLB is making 11-minute at-bat compilations just so you can sit back with a cup of coffee and enjoy him in all his majesty.
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PCA brings the Cubs back to the postseasonAug 29, 2026; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Chicago Cubs center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong (4) gets doused by pitcher Daniel Palencia (48) after defeating the Cincinnati Reds at Wrigley Field. Mandatory Credit: Matt Marton-Imagn Images Credit: IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect (Reuters)The Cubs went 16-12 in August, finishing the month with a 17-3 win at Wrigley Field against the Milwaukee Brewers. Chicago remains seven games back in the NL Central, but are tied with the Philadelphia Phillies for the top NL wild card spot.
That’s what’s most important. He’s hit 30-plus home runs in back-to-back seasons and the Cubs are going to the playoffs in back-to-back seasons for the first time since 2018 when they lost in a single-game wild card. With Crow-Armstrong leading the way Cubs fans can start to think about what happened two years before that when they won the World Series. That’s something Ken Griffey Jr. never got to do.
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