Pete Crow-Armstrong Gives Somber Interview After Latest Costly Error in Very Rough Season

Pete Crow-Armstrong chases a ball that got past him and resulted in three runs. | @Brewer

Pete Crow-Armstrong's nightmarish season continued on Wednesday as he misplayed a ball to center that should have been a single and turned into a three-run Little League home run for Brewers shortstop David Hamilton.

Hamilton, who was batting last in the lineup for the Brewers on Wednesday, had three hits in the game. It's worth noting his spot in the order because Crow-Armstrong was also batting last in the lineup for the Cubs during the game and did not reach base.

🚨 DAVID HAMILTON LITTLE LEAGUE HOME RUN 🚨 pic.twitter.com/P2rUVVfTiw

— Milwaukee Brewers (@Brewers) May 21, 2026

Crow-Armstrong also dropped a fly ball in the previous game, but the Cubs were able to work out of the jam and it didn't cost the team on the scoreboard. After his second straight game with an error in center, a somber Crow-Armstrong addressed the media in the locker room.

Pete Crow-Armstrong on his back-to-back games with errors in centerfield @GNSportsTV @WGNNews #Cubs pic.twitter.com/NhrGpSB9Gu

— Josh Frydman (@Josh_Frydman) May 21, 2026

"Yesterday and today are uh... like... genuinely laughable," said Crow-Armstrong. "I think one thing I can fall back on is it's never really a lack of focus... but trying too hard and trying to make up for the lack of production that I've given this team and this city. Not acting how I should. I think anything physically usually starts mental and I think that's just what I'm showing everybody right now so I just show up and keep pushing. But that can't happen. That kind of stuff that just can't happen."

To make matters worse, the back-to-back games with errors came just days after he got into it with a White Sox fan and had to issue an apology for his behavior. And on top of all that, he's still not really producing at the plate.

As of a month ago he was mired in one of the worst slumps in baseball dating back to early August 2025. Over that 67-game stretch he was slashing .195/.243/.290. Through 19 games in May he's .197/.293/.348 and after batting cleanup on Opening Day, he's fallen all the way to the bottom of the batting order. This season he's hit No. 8 in 29 of 50 games to start the season. Last night was his ninth game of the season batting last. It was also the 42nd time he's batted No. 9 in the Cubs lineup in his career.

Last season he mostly batted in the heart of the order and in 61 games he was penciled in as the cleanup hitter. His second most regular spot in the lineup was No. 7 (39 times) followed by No. 5 (24 times).

Quite simply, he's hitting like the No. 9 batter. He has started all 50 games this season and has the third most at-bats on the team. Yet he only has 11th best OPS. About a third of the way through the season, coming off a year where he hit 31 home runs and was named an All-Star and won a Gold Glove, he's having a worse season at the plate than he did as a rookie and has hit just five home runs. Then there's whatever is going on in the outfield where he's already committed as many errors as he did all of last season.

It's hard to imagine things could get much worse. Just two months ago his six-year, $115 million contract extension was considered a no-brainer for the team. Now they're just hoping he uses his head out there.

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