WASHINGTON — There are a variety of ways to contextualize the offensive turnaround of Pete Crow-Armstrong, the Chicago Cubs’ electric center fielder.
A change to his stance, adding a leg kick in late July, improved Crow-Armstrong’s timing and with the tweak, adjusting his hands that in turn helped his bat path. His production since then highlights the type of dynamic player the Cubs thought he could be at the major-league level, entering Saturday hitting .317 with a .372 on-base percentage and .920 OPS in his last 115 plate appearances over 31 games. His approach and improved swing decisions have improved, too, featuring a 13.9 K%.
Crow-Armstrong hasn’t relied solely on singles for his success either, tallying 13 extra-base hits, including six doubles and four home runs. Opposing teams can’t view Crow-Armstrong as an easier out like he was at times earlier this season. Although he was hitless in the 5-3 victory Saturday against the Washington Nationals — the Cubs’ 11th win in 14 games — Crow-Armstrong drove in a run on a sacrifice fly and recorded an outfield assist.
One of the best indicators of how pitchers have approached Crow-Armstrong recently is when the Toronto Blue Jays intentionally walked him two weeks ago, a first in his big-league career.
Manager Craig Counsell joked with Crow-Armstrong to enjoy it because that would never happen again. Then the Pirates intentionally walked Crow-Armstrong in the ninth inning of Wednesday’s wild comeback that brought Christian Bethancourt to the plate and subsequently delivered the go-ahead hit.
“It’s funny when that happens because, myself included amongst this entire clubhouse, believes in the next guy, so the day that CB was having it was like, OK, go right on ahead and intentionally walk me, he’ll do it,” Crow-Armstrong told the Tribune. “I’ve always known what I can do. It was just a matter of doing it. Earning the other dugout’s respect, it’s felt nice. But I wanted to earn these guys’ respect first and have the confidence in me to go out there every day and play center field and hit.”
Crow-Armstrong’s production over the last month has helped fuel an incredible offensive output by the Cubs as the bottom third of the order, typically featuring Dansby Swanson, Crow-Armstrong and Miguel Amaya, has collectively given teams trouble. Since July 31, the Nos. 6-9 hitters have combined to hit .306 with 28 doubles, three triples, 17 home runs, 83 RBIs and a .905 OPS, with their OPS, average and RBIs leading the majors in that span.
When evaluating Crow-Armstrong’s adjustments and how they have affected his on-field results, Counsell credits the rookie’s pregame routine with his practice habits.
“We want to see it as a switch — it’s not a switch, it’s a product of your work,” Counsell said. “And sometimes the work is helping, but we just don’t see it in the game yet.
“The stick to the work is really what being a professional athlete, to me, is about. And I think Pete’s really been committed to a program of consistency, and that makes all the difference in the world.”
As Crow-Armstrong has spent more time in the majors, he has learned what works best for him. That meant simplifying what he had done the first couple of months. He decided to focus on a few things to work at and stick to it. That has included incorporating a curveball machine into his pregame routine, hitting about 45 curves each day for the last five weeks. Sometimes he will take no-stride swings or split-grip swings. Before Saturday’s game against former Cub farmhand DJ Herz, Crow-Armstrong incorporated sliders into the angle work to prep for the lefty starter.
“It’s definitely translated into the game,” Crow-Armstrong said of developing his routine. “It’s also actually allowed me to kind of see that it doesn’t matter if you’re feeling good or bad, it doesn’t always correlate to in between the lines.”
Hitting coach Dustin Kelly has been metrically most impressed with how Crow-Armstrong’s chase rate against sliders has decreased in the last month. He struggled against the pitch during his first call-up and then focused on it during his return to Triple-A Iowa. Kelly attributes the addition of Crow-Armstrong’s leg kick to helping him make better swing decisions versus sliders while also being able to better get around on fastballs.
The leg kick started as a drill for Crow-Armstrong, but it stuck when it allowed him to hold his backside longer and not move as forward so quickly. Before the leg kick, Crow-Armstrong’s weight would drift forward before he even started his swing. Because he is so twitchy in the box with his hands, the addition of a leg kick helped him slow down and keep his body staying back and in sync.
“It doesn’t always work for everybody,” Kelly said. “I tell people, that’s the crazy part about the sport is we took one leg kick away from Amaya to help his timing and then we added a leg kick Pete to help his timing, and that’s just what makes everything so unique in this game.”
September represents an opportunity for Crow-Armstrong to show this one-month sample size isn’t a fluke. His ability to hone his swing and approach in-season is an encouraging development for the 22-year-old.
“It’s the evolution of a hitter,” Kelly said. “And as you start to see that, then the league starts to adjust. It seems like he’s adjusting as fast as they’re adjusting, which is a really good sign for a young player.”
