The chants of “M-V-Pete” echoing through Wrigley Field carry more relevance than ever before as the 2026 season unfolds. Pete Crow-Armstrong continues to dazzle fans and analysts alike with his dynamic presence on the diamond, solidifying his status as one of baseball’s brightest young talents.
Crow-Armstrong reached a significant milestone on Wednesday night, becoming the first Major League Baseball player this season to record at least 20 home runs and 20 stolen bases. He achieved the feat by launching two homers during the Chicago Cubs’ 9-7 victory on the road against the Baltimore Orioles at Oriole Park at Camden Yards.
Currently, the outfielder sits second in the National League with 25 stolen bases, placing him fifth across the entire majors in that department. At the same time, he shares a tie for fifth in the NL home run standings after adding his 20th and 21st long balls in the contest against Baltimore.
His explosive contributions across every aspect of the game have captivated audiences throughout the league. Following a challenging second half in 2025, Crow-Armstrong—affectionately known as PCA—has reignited his performance this year with impressive consistency.
He holds ninth place in the NL for batting average at .295 and ties for seventh in the league with 60 runs scored. At just 23 years old, his on-field maturity stands out sharply, especially after an earlier incident involving a fan drew widespread attention. Yet his postgame remarks highlighted a focused mindset rather than any premature satisfaction over securing back-to-back 20-20 campaigns by game 92.
“I got a lot more baseball to play,” Crow-Armstrong said. “I’ll be going home thinking about my last at-bat and how I approach that one if I face him again tomorrow.”
In the broader landscape of baseball history, only a select group has joined the elite 40-40 club in recent times. Shohei Ohtani made headlines as the first to reach 50-50 for the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2024, while Ronald Acuna Jr. of the Atlanta Braves also posted a 40-40 season earlier this decade.
Crow-Armstrong, who delivered a strong 30-30 performance (31 homers and 35 steals) in 2025, stands poised to potentially become the fourth such player this century if he can add 19 more home runs and 15 additional stolen bases over the remaining roughly 70 games.
Ohtani remains the clear frontrunner in MVP betting odds, bolstered by his dominant production that includes a slugging percentage exceeding .600 since the start of June. Nevertheless, Crow-Armstrong’s body of work positions him as a legitimate contender for finalist honors, an impressive feat considering Ohtani’s dominance and PCA’s relative youth combined with his infectious energy.
Advanced metrics further underscore his value. Entering Wednesday’s action, Crow-Armstrong topped the majors in fWAR at 5.5 and shared 10th place in wRC+ (150) alongside Tampa Bay’s Junior Caminero among all big-league hitters.
His plate discipline has evolved notably as well. After leading the majors in swing rate during the previous campaign, he has refined his selectivity this season. The current 52 percent swing rate sits above average without being extreme (compared to 47 percent in some benchmarks), and he has already established a new personal best with 41 walks—surpassing his total of 29 across 647 plate appearances last year.
The contrast with his 2025 struggles is striking: Crow-Armstrong managed only four homers after August 1 and posted a meager .634 OPS in the season’s second half. Cubs supporters, however, have every reason for optimism regarding his continued growth, a sentiment that resonates strongly within the team environment.
“The improvement that we’ve seen is so exciting for Cubs fans,” Cubs manager Craig Counsell said. “Watching him play every day, the dugout on the first home run was just kind of shaking their head in amazement at how he’s able to get to that pitch.”
As the campaign progresses, Crow-Armstrong’s blend of power, speed, and maturing approach keeps the “M-V-Pete” calls growing louder, hinting at even greater achievements ahead for the young star and his team.
