Pete

Crow-Armstrong

PCA now is up to 10 homers on the year. The 22-year-old rookie also drew a walk, and he’s looked fantastic — for the most part — since the end of July. Add in the fact that he’s one of the best defenders in baseball already and he’s stolen 27 bases, and it’s not hard to imagine Crow-Armstrong becoming a star in the coming years.

Crow-Armstrong’s home run was his ninth of the season. He hit a solo shot off Kyle Freeland in the seventh inning. The stolen base was his 27th of the year. Crow-Armstrong has been a bit of a drag on batting averages with his .238 average, but he’s rewarded patient fantasy managers with some power and good speed.

In a game where the Cubs combined for a no-no, the offense did its part and then some with 12 runs. Crow-Armstrong was a big part of that with a solo homer, run-scoring single and RBI double. The overall slash of .239/.290/.401 isn’t crazy impressive on the surface, but keep in mind it’s a rookie, and keep in mind he was awful for the start of his MLB career. There’s an awful lot to like about Crow-Armstrong’s outlook.

The Cubs scored five runs after the intentional walk in the ninth, in case you were wondering. There have been times that PCA seemed thoroughly hopeless at the plate as a 22-year-old rookie, but he’s on a tear now; he’s hitting .329/.398/.582 this month, raising his season OPS from .550 to .675. Four of his seven homers have come during August.

The Cubs ran absolutely wild on the basepaths in this one, victimizing Pirates catcher Yasmani Grandal for an outrageous eight stolen bases in a lopsided victory. Crow-Armstrong was responsible for three of them by himself, pushing his full-season total to 26 thefts in the process. The 22-year-old former top prospect, who was best known for his defensive prowess coming into the year, has been on fire in recent weeks, batting .283 (28-for-99) with four homers, 15 RBI and nine steals over his last 30 games. He was a non-factor in the first couple months of the season for fantasy purposes, but he’s really coming on of late and should be rostered in all fantasy formats until further notice.

Crow-Armstrong hit an inside-the-park homer Friday. This one left the park in a hurry and traveled 437 feet with a runner on. He also doubled and drew a walk. Crow-Armstrong has been up-and-down in his first taste of MLB action, but the talent is obvious. He has a chance to be a fantasy star in the coming years.

Crow-Armstrong’s shot to right shouldn’t have gone as a homer, but he did crush the ball at 107 mph. He also had a 102-mph single in the ninth. He’s hit .288/.333/.559 this month, raising his season OPS from .550 to .630. The Cubs would just as soon start him in center the rest of the way, even if he’s merely mediocre offensively.

A good day that could have been even better; Crow-Armstrong had a 360-foot flyout to right off Erick Fedde in the fourth that Statcast said would have been a homer in 20 ballparks. PCA could lose quite a bit of playing time once Cody Bellinger is able to return to the field, but a well-timed hot streak would change that. Having Crow-Armstrong in center, Bellinger in right and Seiya Suzuki at DH would be ideal for the Cubs defensively.

Crow-Armstrong started the Cubs’ third-inning rally with a base hit and was part of their onslaught on James McArthur to put this game out of reach in the ninth. The stolen base was 19th of the season and it was the first time in his career he’s notched three hits in one game.

Even with those two home runs, Crow-Armstrong has just three on the season to go along with a .203/.253/.329 slash line. He does have 17 steals on the season, and that’s where the vast majority of his fantasy appeal will come from because he doesn’t figure to hit enough, at least this season, to be a difference-maker in other categories.