With what has been a rough start to his young major league career, Pete Crow-Armstrong had the best day of his rookie season. PCA fueled a Cubs offense that blew the breaks off the Cardinals and helped lead to a series split with their division rival.
Highlighting PCA’s day, he went two for three with two home runs, a career-high day, and already doubling his home run count on the season. It’s good to see PCA get back in the home run column, with him not hitting one since his first season start in May.
Both home runs were highlight reel worthy, with both being no-doubters that he managed to club out on a pitch near his knees and inside. It was impressive enough that he could get a piece of it, let alone be a no-doubt home run.
The second of his home runs came immediately after Tomas Nido managed to hit one out, with the two going back to back and extending the Cubs lead that would be comfortable enough for them to get the win.
You would love to see this going right into the all-star break, especially with PCA struggling at the plate for much of the season. This will be a big confidence booster for him as we head into the second half of the season. It was all around an excellent weekend at the plate for PCA as he continues to improve.
The Cubs will need to rely on PCA going forward, given that Cody Bellinger will be out for some time and the uncertainty of what the Cubs might do at the trade deadline. Needless to say, we know it’s a lock that he will be with the team post-trade deadline and will continue to be one of the pieces they build around going forward.
Cubs manager, Craig Counsell, went as far as to say it was the “best day in the big leagues, “ which boosts confidence in his young center fielder.
You hope that PCA can continue to build on this day as we look forward. With today’s game, PCA moves his season line .203 with 3 home runs and 17 RBIs. We already know how valuable his glove is, as well as his speed on the bases, but if he can start to get his bat hot going forward, he can really turn into a great player that has all 5 tools.
It was certainly a career day that can be a huge stepping stone going forward for the rest of his season and potentially even his career. The Cubs are going to need his contributions not just for the future of this team, but he can be a huge X-factor in the Cubs success as we move forward throughout the season.
