Chicago Cubs Rookie Flashes Leather in Los Angeles

The Chicago Cubs defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers for the second consecutive time on Tuesday night by a score of 6-3. The game was decided by the defense of both clubs, with the Dodgers being careless with the ball and the Cubs supporting their pitchers with multiple excellent plays. There were key plays made by several Chicago defenders but none more frequently and importantly than CF Pete Crow-Armstrong.

Crow-Armstrong tracked down three fly balls in the right-center field gap in the final three innings. The impressive outing was capped off by a home run robbery of Max Muncy that would’ve cut the Chicago lead to 6-5. Crow-Armstrong’s defense is nothing new to the Cubs’ faithful but on TBS’s national broadcast, he undoubtedly reached some new viewers and put the league on notice with his speed and glove work.

PCA’s Fielding Crucial for Chicago Cubs

Photo byBlake GuidryonUnsplash

The Chicago Cubs downed the Los Angeles Dodgers Tuesday night 6-3 to clinch a series win on the West Coast. The victory was secured by Pete Crow-Armstrong wrestling a Max Muncy fly ball away from a pair of fans in the right-center field bleachers, ending a string of defensive gems in the game’s final three innings. Crow-Armstrong’s speed and agility helped the 22-year-old track down three hits ticketed for multiple bases.

The home run robbery capped off a whole night defined by defense. The Dodgers maintained a 3-1 lead until the eighth inning when they started to come apart at the seams, committing three errors to help the Chicago Cubs put up five runs. By contrast, Dansby Swanson, Ian Happ, and Pete Crow-Armstrong flashed the leather during the game, buoying the Chicago pitchers against the vaunted Los Angeles lineup.

The whole team shined defensively but Pete Crow-Armstrong was a cut above. Ever since injuries to Cody Bellinger and Seiya Suzuki, PCA has been a mainstay for the Chicago Cubs in center field. In the most consistent playing time of his career, Crow-Armstrong has improved across the board but most notably in his performance at the plate. The development of PCA throughout his first full season has been a sense of pride for fans, and more importantly, gives them hope for PCA playing a bigger role in Chicago’s postseason push.

While his speed and defense paved the way for PCA to make it to the big leagues for the Chicago Cubs, his offense has come a long way in 2024. After a sluggish start, PCA’s batting average lived under .200, with his on-base and slugging percentages placing in the lower tenth percentile of the league’s qualified hitters. With more at-bats and the ability to get into a rhythm, the 22-year-old has become a problem for opposing pitching staffs at the bottom of the Chicago Cubs batting order, exhibiting more power, creating more havoc with his speed and generating more hard contact.

Heading into action for the series finale, PCA’s numbers are unrecognizable to fans who saw him at the beginning of the season. He is hitting .243 with a .290 OBP, .396 SLG, and .686 OPS, which aren’t numbers to write home about but show the improvement the young outfielder has made during 2024. Pete Crow-Armstrong’s offense is getting closer to on par with his defense, Tuesday night notwithstanding. If the Chicago Cubs have any prayer of making up ground in the NL Wild Card race, Pete Crow-Armstrong is going to be a critical part in the waning weeks of the regular season.

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Article originally written by Matthias Woerner