The big story leading up to Opening Day was Pete Crow-Armstrong’s six-year extension, the largest such deal in Cubs history. Following a breakout 2025 season, the Cubs rewarded the center fielder with a $114 million contract, banking on his elite defense and offensive upside. Despite the hype surrounding his new deal, Crow-Armstrong has carried over his offensive struggles from the end of last season, posting a .547 OPS in the first 20 games of the 2026 campaign.
Sample sizes are far too small to reach any conclusions this early in the season, and overreacting will do us no good, but there are still some concerning trends with Crow-Armstrong’s offensive performance that are worth looking into, especially since we saw similar issues at the the end of last season.
During the first half of last season, PCA had a 131 wRC+ with 25 home runs and .270 ISO. After the All-Star Break, his wRC+ dropped by 59 points to 72. He hit just six home runs during the latter half of the year, with an ISO of .156, further proof of his struggles.
Crow-Armstrong has drawn comparisons to Javier Báez, for whom he was traded, due to his contagious energy and erratic swing decisions. Báez is known for swinging at just about anything relatively close to the strike zone, which has likely contributed to his offensive decline over the years. However, when he makes contact, he does serious damage to the baseball. Crow-Armstrong fits a similar archetype, with swing decisions that make you question reality. Still, when he’s right, his potential to be an elite bat is obvious to anyone watching him play.
Before Spring Training began, The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal wrote about Alex Bregman’s clubhouse impact, specifically in terms of him helping his teammates get better. One of the main focuses of the article was Bregman’s relationship with PCA and how the two were working on Crow-Armstrong’s swinging tendencies.
“Crow-Armstrong, who turns 24 next month, is still a work in progress. His chase rate last season was the third-highest in the majors. His on-base percentage was the 11th lowest. His OPS was .847 before the All-Star Game and .634 after. Bregman intends to help him fix all that. ‘He’s excited to see my OBP go up and my swing rate go down,’ Crow-Armstrong said. ‘It’s everything that everybody else probably wants to see. But the way he talks about it is really cool.'”
I want to reiterate that the sample size is small, with Crow-Armstrong having taken just 84 plate appearances so far this year, but we haven’t seen the improvements they were hoping for. In fact, PCA’s chase rate is even worse than last year, with a 6.3% increase to a staggering 48%, one of the worst marks in the sport.
© Ken Blaze-Imagn ImagesThroughout the first 20 games of this season, Crow-Armstrong has struck out 24 times. 17 of those 24 strikeouts have been swinging. Below is a chart of the 17 swinging strikeouts, with pitch type included. The 2025 version is rather similar, although last year, pitchers attacked him more above the zone as well.
Opposing pitchers are continuing to bury pitches below the zone, and there is no reason for them to stop unless PCA starts laying off them. Most of the strikeout pitches, wherever they are around the plate, are breaking balls or off-speed pitches, which seems to be another one of PCA’s offensive issues.
One positive note, because there’s no reason to be all doom and gloom this early into the season, is Crow-Armstrong’s hard hit rate and average exit velocity, which are both up by 2.6% from last year to 44.2% and 92.1 mph, respectively. Going back to the negative, his barrel rate is just 3.8% this year, a 9.2% decrease from last season.
One of the great parts about Crow-Armstrong’s extension is that he’s going to bring the team so much value defensively that even if he’s hovering around a league-average bat (which I think will happen eventually), he’s worth the money the Cubs are paying him.
that's pete for you. pic.twitter.com/4F0WDjt3eD
— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) April 16, 2026Last season, during the team’s West Coast road trip against the Dodgers and Padres, PCA posted a 265 wRC+, with three home runs and seven extra-base hits across six games. This came right after the previous extension talks were leaked by the media. Later this week, the Cubs will once again head out west to face the defending champions, followed by the Padres. Maybe Crow-Armstrong can have a repeat of last year?
Hence then, the article about should pete crow armstrong s slow start be a cause for alarm was published today ( ) and is available on Bleacher Nation ( Middle East ) The editorial team at PressBee has edited and verified it, and it may have been modified, fully republished, or quoted. You can read and follow the updates of this news or article from its original source.
Read More Details
Finally We wish PressBee provided you with enough information of ( Should Pete Crow-Armstrong’s Slow Start Be a Cause for Alarm? )
Also on site :