You know that had to feel amazing for Pete Crow-Armstrong, who not only had one of the best games of his career, but most certainly the most satisfying, going up against the St. Louis Cardinals. The center fielder struck out to leadoff the game, but then reached base five straight times, which included four hits.
The highlight of the night was Crow-Armstrong’s seventh home run of the season in the eighth inning. For starters, it was his longest home run of the 2026 season, measuring at an estimated 444 feet, that landed right into the outfield section that was chanting “Overrated” during Crow-Armstrong’s at-bats.
This might have been the end of the tarps off crowd in St. Louis.
The 114.6mph exit velocity from Crow-Armstrong was the hardest-hit ball of his MLB career, and it puts him into some elite company so far in the 2026 MLB season.
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He finished a triple shy of the cycle, going 4-for-5 at the plate. Before the mammoth home run, Crow-Armstrong jump-started the Cubs’ offense with a leadoff double in the fifth inning. He moved up to third base on a ground ball to the right side by Nico Hoerner, and then Michael Busch drove him in with a base hit center.
Crow-Armstrong was in the middle of the Cubs’ sixth-inning rally, as he reached base with a hit by pitch that loaded the bases, and then he added the cherry on top in the ninth inning with a two-strike RBI single.
Yet, the most impressive play of the Cubs’ 6-1 win wasn’t even anything Crow-Armstrong did on offense because with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning, the best center fielder in baseball lived up to his title.
Waving goodbye to the Cardinals fans with his glove…chef’s kiss.
I still don’t quite understand why Crow-Armstrong is so loathed around the league, but recently it’s been easy to dunk on him after the incident with the White Sox fan, which was then followed by his worst defensive series against the Milwaukee Brewers.
However, for a guy who gets overrated chants, you’d think he’d be a lot worse than he actually is. After a brutal first 2.5 weeks to the regular season, and yes, they were awful, Crow-Armstrong is back to his 2025 trajectory.
Since April 14, Crow-Armstrong has posted a slash line of .252/.360/.444 with a 131 wRC+, six home runs, a 10.7 BB%, and, by the expected stats based on his batted-ball data, his numbers should be even better. By the way, during this 43-game stretch, Crow-Armstrong has put up a 2.2 fWAR, No. 1 in the National League, and second only to Bobby Witt Jr. in MLB.
