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Why Cubs Star Pete Crow-Armstrong Could Suddenly Join the NL MVP Race

The 24-year-old is on pace for the best individual Cubs season since the turn of the century.
Zoe Grossman|
Jun 4, 2026; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Chicago Cubs center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong (4) reacts after hitting a walk off RBI single against the Oakland Athletics during the ninth inning at Wrigley Field. Mandatory Credit: Matt Marton-Imagn Images
Jun 4, 2026; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Chicago Cubs center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong (4) reacts after hitting a walk off RBI single against the Oakland Athletics during the ninth inning at Wrigley Field. Mandatory Credit: Matt Marton-Imagn Images | Matt Marton-Imagn Images

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Pete Crow-Armstrong is playing out of his mind right now, and it's landing him in conversations that perhaps seemed out of reach only a month ago.

After Crow-Armstrong hit for the cycle on Monday night, it only put the baseball world more on notice than it already was — like it or not, we are witnessing an MVP-caliber baseball player.

Some would clutch their pearls at such a sentence.

The guy who allowed an inside-the-park home run that time? It simply CANNOT be!

But the truth beyond box scores and highlight clips is that nobody in the National League is doing what Crow-Armstrong is doing on offense and defense, simultaneously. Amid a 19-game on-base streak dating back to May 26, he's hitting .407 with a 1.252 OPS.

During that streak, he's climbing up league leaderboards. His 76 hits are tied for ninth-most in the NL, and his slugging percentage and OPS are in the top-20.

Defensively, Crow-Armstrong is unstoppable. His 13 Outs Above Average lead the NL, and his Fielding Run Value of 15 leads the entire MLB.

And the biggest indicator of Crow-Armstrong's total value is Wins Above Replacement. For those unfamiliar, the metric measures a player's production in all facets and is adjusted by position. It's arguably the best way to compare players who play different positions.

His FanGraphs WAR figure (fWAR) stands at an NL position player-best 3.9. His Baseball Reference WAR (bWAR) is an MLB-third-best 4.2, just behind two-way Los Angeles Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani and Philadelphia Phillies breakout ace Cristopher Sánchez. Talk about some great company!

Entering play on Tuesday, Crow-Armstrong is slashing .277/.351/.493 with an OPS of .844 with 13 home runs and 35 RBI through 309 plate appearances.

The 24-year-old went on a similar tear in the first half last season on his way to a maiden All-Star selection. His numbers through the same number of plate appearances were eerily similar: a .280/.325/.520 slash line with an .845 OPS, 15 home runs, and 48 RBI.

Nevertheless, he suffered after the All-Star break last year, hitting only .216 with a .634 OPS in 62 games following the Midsummer Classic.

What stands out about Crow-Armstrong this season is that he's become far more disciplined at the plate. His 24 walks through 73 games are already approaching his 157-game total last year of 29. His walk rate is up 3.3%.

That positive improvement, coupled with already-elite defense, is leading to projections that would place him in the upper echelon of an individual Cubs season in history.

FanGraphs currently projects Crow-Armstrong to be worth 8.7 fWAR when all is said and done in 2026.

No Cub has produced an fWAR that high since Sammy Sosa's iconic 2001 season (9.9 fWAR) in which he hit 64 home runs and became the first player to hit 60 or more home runs three times.

Kris Bryant, the Cubs' most recent MVP, posted 7.5 fWAR when he won the award in 2015.

None of this is to put the cart before the horse. Crow-Armstrong still has plenty of season to go, and his main focus will be to avoid the drop-off he suffered in the second half last year. With the growth he's shown already, however, it doesn't seem far-fetched that he's now an even better player who is better-equipped to deal with that kind of adversity.

Keep him on your MVP radar!

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Zoe Grossman
ZOE GROSSMAN

I am a sports journalist and content producer born and raised on Chicago's North Side. I graduated from the University of Denver in 2022 with a Bachelor's degree in Media Studies and from Northwestern University in 2024 with a Master's degree in Journalism. As a student, I earned bylines in USA TODAY and FanSided and covered a wide range of sporting events, including Super Bowl LVIII in Las Vegas and the NBA Draft Combine. I previously covered the Chicago Cubs as a beat writer and digital content producer at Marquee Sports Network during the 2025 season. I also assisted in coverage of the Bears, Sky, Fire and Stars. I most recently covered the 2026 Winter Olympics with NBC Sports, where I wrote about bobsled, luge and skeleton for NBCOlympics.com. When I'm not writing, I love to play my guitar (I'm a lefty!), find the best cold brew coffee in the city and watch my beloved Chicago sports teams on TV.

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