MILWAUKEE (AP) — Pete Crow-Armstrong says he has his teammates to thank for sparking him to his fast start this season.
Crow-Armstrong hit two homers in a 10-0 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers on Friday night to give him eight this year, two off his 2024 total in 123 games as a rookie. He also already has 12 steals to go along with an .859 OPS.
The 23-year-old outfielder has delivered much of that production while batting seventh in the order, where he was hitting again Friday.
“It’s so easy to hit in this lineup,” Crow-Armstrong said. “I just feel so confident going up to the plate in the seven hole. Talk about flying under the radar. I feel like I can kind of hide in there in a way because it’s so easy to want to go have a good at bat when you’ve got eight other guys who can really do it behind you and in front of you.”
The Cubs are leading the majors with 6.1 runs per game with a lineup featuring plenty of power and speed. The Cubs have an MLB-leading 44 steals — they’ve been caught only six times — and rank third with 49 homers.
Many of those homers have come in the bottom third of the order. Crow-Armstrong’s two solo shots Friday gave the Cubs a total of 18 from the seventh, eighth or ninth hitters in the lineup.
“That’s why you score a lot of runs, is we’re getting production from all over the lineup and from a number of different people,” Cubs manager Craig Counsell said. “That’s been a strength of this team so far.”
Crow-Armstrong has showcased that with two two-homer games this season. He also went deep twice April 13 against the Los Angeles Dodgers.
He already had a reputation as an elite defensive outfielder heading into this season, but he was still unproven as a hitter. Crow-Armstrong batted .237 with a .286 on-base percentage, 10 homers, 47 RBIs and 21 steals last year.
Through his first 33 games this season, Crow-Armstrong is hitting .271 with a .309 on-base percentage, eight homers and 23 RBIs. He homered off Quinn Priester in the second inning and Joel Payamps in the seventh on Friday, drawing chants of “PCA” from the Cubs fans who made the trip to Milwaukee.
"It's nice kind of seeing myself grow into my power, or just being able to use it properly," Crow-Armstrong said. “But doubles is what I want. At the end of the day, doubles is what I'm going for, hitting to the big part of the field. Again, to bring it back to the lineup, it's super comforting knowing that I've just got to get on first base. It's not all the time I have to be in scoring position, but a single usually turns into a double with a few of us on this team. Kind of knowing that is big.”
___
AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb
Steve Megargee, The Associated Press
